Quotes from Raymond Kelly

You can't separate the two, being a parent, being a cop.

The NYPD has too urgent a mission and too few officers for us to waste time and resources on broad, unfocused surveillance. We have a responsibility to protect New Yorkers from violent crime or another terrorist attack - and we uphold the law in doing so.

I don't think I have the demeanor to be a politician. I'm used to making decisions and to a certain extent being in charge.

A broad base of knowledge is critically important to our ability to investigate terrorism.

David Cohen is without a doubt one of the best - if not the best - public servant I've ever encountered.

A small number of people and groups control the Democratic primary.

I liked the military life. They teach you self-sufficiency early on. I always say that I learned most of what I know about leadership in the Marine Corps. Certain basic principles stay with you - sometimes consciously, mostly unconsciously.

The federal government is doing less than it is lawfully entitled to do to protect New York City, and the City is less safe as a result.

All terrorism is theater.

For some, the very act of intelligence gathering seems illegitimate when applied to the crime of terrorism.

If terrorists aren't limited by borders and boundaries, we can't be, either.

I've been the longest-serving police commissioner in the history of the department, but it's time in my life to move on. I'm ready for new adventures, new challenges.

It sounds corny, but I never have avoided the challenges - I relish them - I think it's what make me tick, to a certain extent.

I think the American public can accept the fact if you tell them that every time you pick up the phone it's going to be recorded and it goes to the government. I think the public can understand that.

I think, as a nation, we didn't learn our lessons from the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. We should have been more careful in a whole host of areas.

I like Sicilian food. It's real peasant food.

In New York City we have the biggest police force in the country. We have 35,000 uniformed officers. We're able to mass officers in significant numbers if we had to.

I don't stretch enough. I know I should do it more, and I'd like to do yoga, but I just don't have time.

You have multiple intelligence agencies. They all ultimately report to the director of national intelligence but, you know, it never comes in neat packages. So you have to make judgments on what you have, and it's not easy to do.

Protecting the city is my job, which doesn't translate into hatred. This is war, and in most wars, professional soldiers don't hate the enemy. Hatred can blind you in ways that mar your judgment.

Consensus building doesn't necessarily fit with my experience.

New Yorkers are real gritty and tough.

I'm a nice guy, but people want to kill me.

The stark reality is that crime happens in communities of color.