And if you use force, you have to make certain that you use just the force necessary to protect yourself, and to protect your life and the life of others. If you do that, you're not only going to make the city safer, you're going to make circumstances for your fellow police officers safer. An atmosphere of anger and fear breeds more violence. An atmosphere of courtesy, professionalism, and respect, breeds safety for all, including the police. But at the same time as you take these steps, some steps also have to taken in the communities of New York City.
Steps have to be taken by the people who exploit the fear and anger against the police.
When you have acted properly in using force, then you must be supported. If communities respect you, to put your lives at risk to protect them, then you do the right thing, and people end up pointing fingers at you, then those communities have to step forward, if we expect that this process is going to work. And you can be sure that we will ask the same thing of them that we are asking of you. Let me give you two illustrations, two controversial situations. Two weeks ago, the Police Commissioner made a decision to dismiss a police officer who had unjustifiably used force and killed somebody.