Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

True Believers (2011)

Andre Braugher: Bayard Ellis

Quotes 

• Sergeant John Munch : Counselor Ellis.

  Bayard Ellis : Have we met?

  Sergeant John Munch : Sergeant John Munch. I admire your second act.

  Bayard Ellis : Um, I'm not sure I get the joke.

  Sergeant John Munch : I'm not joking.

  [Belzer as Munch and Braugher as Det. Frank Pembleton, a different character, co-starred on Homicide: Life on the Street] 

• Olivia Benson : [to Ellis]  We've got the right man.

  Bayard Ellis : Not the right way.

  Olivia Benson : Look, there's no big conspiracy here. What's in this for you?

  Bayard Ellis : Nothing, but if improprieties happen on ordinary cases like this, that means they happen all the time.

  Olivia Benson : So you're gonna use this case to declare war on the NYPD?

  Bayard Ellis : The NYPD declared war on young men of color a long time ago. 500,000 stop and frisks in one year?

  Olivia Benson : That son of a bitch raped her.

  Bayard Ellis : Last I heard, even if a black man is accused of rape, the burden of proof is still on the state.

• Olivia Benson : [to Ellis]  Are you proud of yourself? You brought up every stereotype. You shamed that girl about her sexuality. You said that if a white girl in that neighborhood cries rape, she must have wanted it? Nice work.

  Bayard Ellis : And your case? The ID? The gun your partner heard slide under the couch? No DNA? If Michael were white, this never would've gone to trial.

  Olivia Benson : Oh, wow. You're still playing the race card, huh?

  Bayard Ellis : 84% of the young men in New York jails are black and Latino.

  Olivia Benson : He raped her!

  Bayard Ellis : So she says. We don't know. Neither one of us was there. The only thing we can do is believe our people and we do it without question.

  Olivia Benson : So that's it. You're a true believer.

  Bayard Ellis : I am. And so are you.

  Olivia Benson : I just do my job.

  Bayard Ellis : Look, not everyone in the NYPD is like you, Detective. I wish they were. I could retire. This job, fighting this hard, it... win or lose, it comes with a cost.

• Olivia Benson : You know, I look at the unis, all these kids in the squad room and all I can think of is, I'm so tired.

  Bayard Ellis : I get it. This is what happens when you live for the job.