Raymond Kelly Quotes

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

“I don't think I've become arrogant. I'm pretty much the same person. I think the world has changed. I think I'm pretty consistent. Because you stick to what you believe does not make you arrogant.”

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“I think one of the biggest scams in law enforcement is the monitor.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

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.

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“All terrorism is theater.”

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly

“I don't watch cop movies much. I TiVo shows. I watch every Larry David show.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“New Yorkers are real gritty and tough.”

— Raymond Kelly

“Since 9/11, some of the most violent terrorists we've encountered were radicalized or recruited at universities.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“As a city, we have to face the reality that New York's minority communities experience a disproportionate share of violent crime.”

— Raymond Kelly

“Consensus building doesn't necessarily fit with my experience.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“I like music, a lot of different types of music.”

— Raymond Kelly

If you want to be a cop, it's not for everybody, no question about it, but there's no place like New York City.

— Raymond Kelly

“It's dangerous to write people off just because they've been arrested.”

— Raymond Kelly

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

— Raymond Kelly

“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.”

— Raymond Kelly