We have contradictory expectations of police: We want to be perfectly safe and perfectly free. We want total security and total privacy. We want the bad guys stopped and the good guys unmolested. That's great for the consumer; try providing it.
The tragedy is that the police and inner city communities should be allies. Who suffers most from violent crime in America? Inner city communities. Who has a personal and professional interest in lowering that violence? Cops.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the irony that police and inner-city communities, who should be working together, often find themselves at odds, exacerbating the issue of violence.
In this quote, Don Winslow articulates a poignant observation about the relationship between law enforcement and inner-city communities. He points out that both groups share a common goal: reducing violent crime, which disproportionately affects the very communities that law enforcement is sworn to protect. The tragedy lies in the failure of these groups to collaborate effectively, leading to more suffering for those who are already vulnerable and in need of safe environments.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a community meeting to foster dialogue between police and residents.
More from Don Winslow
All quotes →Police departments are always a reflection of the society that they serve. Is there such a thing as 'police culture?' Absolutely. Is that culture isolated form the surrounding society? Absolutely not.
When you criminalize something, only criminals can deal with it. When criminals deal with it, there's no recourse to law, so there's only recourse to violence.
Similar quotes
The WWII generation shares so many common values: duty, honor, country, personal responsibility and the marriage vow " For better or for worse--it was the last generation in which, broadly speaking, marriage was a commitment and divorce was not an option
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
It feels like a simple human right to be able to be yourself, and yet, what trans people have to go through in order to get to there, it can be so complicated.
You practice forgiveness for two reasons: to let others know that you no longer wish to be in a state of hostility with them and to free yourself from the self-defeating energy of resentment. Send love in some form to those you feel have wronged you and notice how much better you feel.
If you would marry suitably, marry your equal.
People are not as nice as they used to be. There used to be a time when we conversed. You don't get a lot of real responses now. They used to be more polite and well-mannered people, generally. It's minimal now.