--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must always remember that the police…" description: "\"We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes.\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ed/gore-vidal-466_class_we-must-always-remember-that-the-police_1583079.jpg" --- # We must always remember that the police are recruited from… ![“We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes.” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ed/gore-vidal-466_class_we-must-always-remember-that-the-police_1583079.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ed/gore-vidal-466_class_we-must-always-remember-that-the-police_1583079.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ed/gore-vidal-466_class_we-must-always-remember-that-the-police_1583079.jpg) > “We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Police recruit from marginalized groups, reflecting systemic cycles. **In simple terms:** Police come from same backgrounds as criminals. Key Takeaway Address recruitment biases. Themes justice systemic inequality recruitment Mood critical analytical Type political social critique When to use this quote - policy reform - community policing - education programs Key Concepts sociology law enforcement social class Questions to Reflect On - Why do recruitment patterns persist? - What reforms could break the cycle? A Different Perspective Changing recruitment alone may not fix deeper social issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) [Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police/) ## Related quotes > [“Remember, the police are neutral - they hate everybody.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard-2/remember-the-police-are-neutral-they-hate-everybody/) [J.G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard-2/) > [I'm not working-class: I come from the criminal classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-o-toole/i-m-not-working-class-i-come-from-the-criminal-classes/) [Peter O'Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-o-toole/) > [I remember when the first police scary video thing came out, and you thought, wow, ooh, look at this, come and look, come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saunders/i-remember-when-the-first-police-scary-video-thing-came-out-and-you/) [Jennifer Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-saunders/) > [I never remember any police officer being brought around our area to do good, to investigate a crime, to sort something out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-blades/i-never-remember-any-police-officer-being-brought-around-our-area-to/) [Jay Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-blades/) > [“Art is rarely intelligible to the criminal classes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/art-is-rarely-intelligible-to-the-criminal-classes/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The criminal classes are so close to us that even the policemen can see them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-criminal-classes-are-so-close-to-us-that-even-the-policemen-can/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Judges, like the criminal classes, have their lighter moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/judges-like-the-criminal-classes-have-their-lighter-moments/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The husbands of very beautiful women belong to the criminal classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-husbands-of-very-beautiful-women-belong-to-the-criminal-classes/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The period of Prohibition - called the noble experiment - brought on the greatest breakdown of law and order the United States has known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-period-of-prohibition-called-the-noble-experiment-brought-on-the/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The vast majority of the online crime cases, we don't even know which continent the attacks are coming from. 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Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/sometimes-the-law-defends-plunder-and-participates-in-it-sometimes/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/we-need-to-incorporate-that-age-old-concept-of-redemption-into-the/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“One of the problems of a society as tightly controlled as ours is that we get so little information about what those of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/one-of-the-problems-of-a-society-as-tightly-controlled-as-ours-is/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) [Explore all 539 Gore Vidal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## More Class quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. 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