Politics & Government

Bloomberg Blasts Mayoral Candidates in Speech to NYPD: Report

Mayor defends city's stop-and-frisk policy and says Police Department is "under attack" by candidates.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city’s stop-and-frisk policy and said that the Police Department was “under attack” by this year’s mayoral candidates, NY 1 reported.  

The mayor addressed the NYPD’s leadership at One Police Plaza on Tuesday, where he praised counter-terrorism programs and the use of stop-and-frisk.  

Bloomberg also criticized several members of the City Council as well as this year’s crop of mayoral candidates, several of whom have called for the stop-and-frisk policy to be discontinued and the creation of an inspector general for the NYPD, NY 1 reported.  

“My message is simple,” Bloomberg said. “Stop playing politics with public safety. Look at what’s happened in Boston. Remember what happened here on 9/11. Remember all those who have been killed by gun violence and the families they left behind. We owe it to all of them to give our offices the tools they need to protect innocent lives or people will needlessly die and we’ll all be responsible.”  

But several of this year’s mayoral candidates fired back at the mayor’s address.  

“He’s presenting a false choice – that people either are safe or people have rights,” city Comptroller John Liu told NY 1.


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