Cop Quotes

“Careful old-timer, your age is showing.”
“Hey, I’m only thirty-two. I’m in my prime, woman!”
She harrumphed. “Well, I’m a mere twenty-five and you’re way too old for me.”
Jay’s eyes smoldered as he whispered, “My experience is your gain.”
― Anne Rainey, Haley's Cabin

“That's what everyone thinks--they think being a cop is about punishing people for doing wrong. But that's not true. You know it isn't. It's about believing in people, believing in the good. In the will of people to do what's right despite their own instincts.”
― Scott Snyder, American Vampire, Vol. 2

“But it was definitely a car trailing me and quickly I prepared myself for a great dash. I began quickening my step and when it stopped alongside me I could stand it no longer.
"My father's a cop and he'll kill you," I screeched without looking.
"No, he's a barrister," I heard Michael Andretti say in a calm voice, "and he'll kill you if you don't get into this car.”
― Melina Marchetta, Looking for Alibrandi

“I always thought,' I said, 'that a man became a cop to be shielded from his own criminality.”
― Norman Mailer

“John Updike, in that book you gave me, he said the dead make space. Do you know what I think? Updike doesn't know dick about what it's like to be a homicide cop in Baltimore.”
― Laura Lippman, The Sugar House

“A cop is a human creature born stupid and raised in stupidity.”
― Norman Mailer, Tough Guys Don't Dance

“Letter to Law Enforcement

Every field of human endeavor has its own unique problem. The problem with science is lack of warmth. The problem with philosophy is lack of empathy. The problem with religion is lack of reason. The problem with politics is lack of expertise. And the problem with law enforcement is not corruption, but an absolute denial of that corruption, and until you acknowledge that many of your officers are corrupt and prejudiced to the neck, you can never in a million years build a healthy relationship with the people.

Prejudices thrive on biases, and biases are a part of our psyche - of the human psyche, and no matter what we do, we cannot erase them from our mind - but we do have the ability to be aware of them, and only when we are aware of them, can we choose whether or not to be driven by them. However, when you don't even acknowledge that you have biases, that you are filled with prejudice, then you are inadvertently choosing not to accept the root of all the mistakes committed by you and your fellow officers in the line of duty.

A civilian may choose to stay biased and prejudiced all their life, but you as a defender of the people - as a defender of their rights, their security, their serenity - do not have the luxury to let your biases, to let your prejudices come in the way of your duty, for the moment they do, you the keeper of law and order, turn into the very cause of disorder.

Therefore, it's not enough for an officer of the law to have combat training and legal knowledge, it is also imperative that you learn about biases, that you learn about the fears, insecurities and instinctual tendencies of the human mind. An officer of the law without an understanding of biases, is like a ten year old with a knife - they may feel that they have power, but they have no clue as to the real life implications of that power. Remember my friend, power that doesn't help the people, is not power but pandemic.

Your combat training doesn't make you a police officer, for when enraged even an ordinary civilian can take down ten police officers - your knowledge of law doesn't make you an officer of the law, for when pushed even a mediocre college student can defeat an army of elite legal minds - what makes you a police officer is your absolute acceptance of your role in society - the role of selfless servants. Once you accept the role of selfless servants wholeheartedly, people are bound to trust you.

My brave, conscientious officers of the law, if you want people to trust you, don't use the phrase "police are your friends", for it only makes you sound authoritarian, egotistical and condescending - instead, remind them "police are humans too" - acknowledge your mistakes and work towards correcting them, so that you can truly become the Caretaker of People, which is the very definition of COP.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent

“Do you feel like you've been through a meat grinder or just tumbled around in a cement mixer?”
― Dana Marton, Deathmarch

“My brave, conscientious officers of the law, if you want people to trust you, don't use the phrase "police are your friends", for it only makes you sound authoritarian, egotistical and condescending - instead, remind them "police are humans too" - acknowledge your mistakes and work towards correcting them, so that you can truly become the Caretaker of People, which is the very definition of COP.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent

“Police Sonnet

Police is not a profession,
But a promise of protection.
So long as you carry the badge,
You must discard self-preservation.
The thin blue line of service,
Is not for self-serving narcissists.
When your sole concern is society,
Only then can you uphold justice.
You mustn't become manikins of politics,
Nor of bureaucratic brutality.
Your allegiance is only to the people,
Their welfare will rescue your humanity.
In the sea of selfishness be the selfless drop,
Taking care of people you become a real cop.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent

“He was going to kiss her. The thought speared through her stunned mind as he closed the distance between them and brushed his warm lips over hers.

The rush was like plunging from the high point of a roller coaster: sheer exhilaration, breathlessness, half a heart attack.

She made a sound. She hadn't meant it to be encouraging, but it so obviously was, he kissed her deeper.

Nobody kissed like Harper. God, she'd almost forgotten how he would begin slow and soft and seduce her mouth little by little until she was hopelessly lost, until she was ruthlessly conquered.”
― Dana Marton, Deathmarch

“Expect the best, prepare for the worst. Right?"

"As long as a person doesn't spend all their time preparing for the worst and miss when they stumble across the best.”
― Dana Marton, Deathmarch

“I wasn't a "good" cop or a "bad" cop. I was an "every" cop.”
― Michael Fanone, Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul

“If you think the average law-abiding citizen feels strange finding himself in a cell, imagine how a cop feels. It’s not natural. It’s like a dog being peed on by a lamppost.”
― Charles Alverson, Goodey's Last Stand

“The thin blue line of service,
Is not for self-serving narcissists.
When your sole concern is society,
Only then can you uphold justice.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent

“WHAT WAS THAT AD SLOGAN you saw all over? Ellen Pierce wondered. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Ha! Not if you're an agent with the DEA. What happens in Vegas becomes a nightmare of paperwork back in Manhattan.

For the third straight day since returning home from Vegas, Ellen was stuck behind the desk of her small office at the DEA's New York Division on the Lower West Side.

This part of the job never made an iota of sense to her. Screw up and lose your bad guy, and you only had to file one report. Actually bring him down and you had to file three. It was almost as bad as being a doctor and dealing with insurance companies. The thought had probably come into her head because Ellen had once considered pre-med rather than pre-law at Wake Forest.”
― James Patterson, Sail

“I’m a cop,” Miller said. “I find things out.”
― James S.A. Corey, Leviathan Wakes

“I always assume I am being stopped by a fake cop until proven otherwise.”
― Steven Magee

“What is more beautifully cocooned in this microcosm at the centre of vast galaxies than an unflinching and unwavering effort and optimism embellished with sheer will to look beyond the present and hope for a better-sustained life? A future where adverse effects of climate change become a thing of the past, a future for earth made possible by the daring tenacity of man coined from harnessing climatech for social good.”
― Emmanuel Apetsi

“Calling 911 may result in the ‘Terminator Cop’ being sent to you!”
― Steven Magee

“For some people, calling 911 has resulted in the ‘Grim Reaper Cop’ being sent to them.”
― Steven Magee

“It used to be good cop, bad cop. Now it is more like corrupt cop, killer cop.”
― Steven Magee

“I am thinking of becoming a cop because no matter how abusive you are, it seems to be a job for life!”
― Steven Magee

“I will never understand why a police officer has to do a gun magazine dump into their victim.”
― Steven Magee

“Until I start receiving excellent customer service from the police, I will not be thanking a cop!”
― Steven Magee

“when a man puts that uniform on that he is the paid protector of things of the present time. he is here to see that things stay the way they are. if you like the way things are, then all cops are good cops. if you don’t like the way things are, then all cops are bad cops.”
― Charles Bukowski, Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness

“You know what they say, you can take the cop out of the city..."
"But you can't take the donut away from the cop?"
"Hey," I said. "This is a burger."
"Punch a hole in it and it's basically a meat donut.”
― Rosie A. Point, Vanilla Sprinkle Murder

“At times, cops resemble gangsters, and doctors resemble patients.”
― Tamerlan Kuzgov

“We drove straight to southern Newton for another check. Getting samples was tricky out here because there were even more cops, and just owning a black van was reason enough for a life sentence. I'd had success before, though, just on pure balls. “Yes, officer, I'm Sangamon Taylor with GEE International, we're working on a sanctioned investigation here [whatever that meant] tracking down illegal dumping in the [insert name of town] sewer system. You live in this town, officer? You have children? Noticed any behavioral changes lately, any strange rashes on the abdomen? Good. I'm glad to hear it. Well, it looks like my assistant is just about finished, thanks for your help.”

We had to check three manholes before we made a bingo. Newton had its very own sewer system with its own manholes, which made things confusing. I was forced to deploy the above-mentioned speech while Bart was checking number two. Usually it was hard to convince them that you worked for a real environmental group, but the Zodiac on top of the van, with GEE in orange letters, made it all look plausible. I'd have to remember that trick. Word got out on the radio, and at manhole number three, a cop actually stood there and directed traffic around us while we worked.

Which doesn't necessarily mean we fooled them, but they could see we weren't out to cause trouble, and things went a lot more smoothly when they stood there with their flashing lights. And that's mainly what a cop wants: things to go smoothly.”
― Neal Stephenson, Zodiac

“The multilateral institutions on which the middle powers have relied – the WTO, the UN, the COP – the architecture, the very architecture of collective problem solving are under threat. And as a result, many countries are drawing the same conclusions that they must develop greater strategic autonomy, in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains.

And this impulse is understandable. A country that can't feed itself, fuel itself or defend itself, has few options. When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself.

But let's be clear eyed about where this leads.

A world of fortresses will be poorer, more fragile and less sustainable.”
― Mark Carney