Adam Plantinga > Quotes

“In many careers, crucial decisions are deliberated in meetings with white boards and breakout sessions. Options are weighed. Exploratory committees are formed. Ideas are mulled over and then discarded. Gourmet coffee is consumed. Perhaps finger sandwiches are ordered from the catering joint down the street. The whole process can take hours, days, weeks.

One of the most crucial decisions you make as a cop is Shoot or Don't Shoot. Given how quickly situations can go all sorts of wrong, you will probably have about a second and a half to deliberate before you make this call. Critics then have a lifetime to pick apart your decision over that coffee and those sandwiches.”
― Adam Plantinga

“As the old quote says, anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“Had to put him down.”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“But once in a while you can have a little fun, especially if the supervisor who reviews your work has a reputation for being inattentive. So if you’re investigating a case where one person threw a house cat at the head of another, you may be able to sneak the phrase “feline projectile” into your subsequent police report.”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“She favored Michigan State over Michigan,”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“Where’s the knife?” “I gave it back to him. It’s in his leg.”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“The best book ever written about cops is Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by former Baltimore Sun crime reporter David Simon. The best TV show about cops is The Wire, created by David Simon. You may start to see a theme here.   16”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“Someone gonna explain where my dog is?”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“The head butt, if done right, is a showstopper. It feels like a bowling ball has just exploded into your skull.”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“Between good and evil is where I walk.”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“butt,”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“These are the kinds of supervisors who move through life lightly, for they are unburdened by genius. The only thing they have to teach you is how important it is not to be like them. But how mad can you get at these people? It isn’t their fault. They were promoted past their abilities. You learn not to expect much from them. Like houseplants.”
― Adam Plantinga, Police Craft: What Cops Know About Crime, Community and Violence

“He had shoulder-length hair and a pierced nose, which made Argento resent him for no particularly good reason.”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“commonplace”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“hold my breath.” “Okay,”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“Most bad guys can’t shoot for spit. They’re about as accurate as the stormtroopers in Star Wars.”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they’re after.”
― Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman

“The best way out is always through. —Robert Frost”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent

“Told you he was on suicide watch,” LeMaines said. Julie took a step back from Sarrazin’s body. “What does that even mean in here? Guy commits suicide and afterward you watch him?”
― Adam Plantinga, The Ascent