Democratic Nominee Eric Adams Says If He Is Elected Mayor, He Will Rid The NYPD Of Bad Cops
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams says the NYPD has become a "safe haven" for officers not qualified to wear the uniform.
And now he's vowing to personally take on the job of ridding the department of bad apples, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday.
First of all, you need to know that Adams thinks the overwhelming number of police officers are committed to doing their job. However, he says the rotten apples are bringing the department down. So to restore safe streets, he's personally going to get see to it that bad cops get the ax. It won't be the police commissioner making the decision to terminate officers. It will be him.
"I want my city to see the buck stops with me. You elected me if I'm the mayor, and I'm going to be in charge of ridding those bad actors from my police department," Adams said.
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Adams is all too aware that businesses won't come back, tourism won't come back, and he won't be able to restore the city's economy if the drumbeat of headline-grabbing violence continues. Incidents like the brazen robbery at the Midtown restaurant Philippe, where a man was shot by armed suspects.
"We have a small pocket of those who are not suitable to wear the uniform. It is taking us too long to rid them from the department. We're going to expedite that process if I'm able to become the mayor. We're creating the wrong mindset by those officers who are doing the right thing," Adams said.
Adams, who also wants to bring back the plainclothes Anti-Crime Unit, said that he'll speed up trials and take other steps toward showing bad cops the door quickly. He said it will help in restoring trust in the NYPD and, "Giving confidence to those officers who want to protect our city. We have not done that."
"We want bad guys off our streets in blue jeans and bad guys in blue uniforms out of our department," he added.
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said the city is out of control because of poor decision making by Bill de Blasio and other politicians.
"I would suggest the problem is not the police and the police department. The problem is the politicians interfering with the police, neutering the police, rendering them impotent and, most importantly, constantly blaming them for the problems they're not dealing with," Sliwa said.
He said crime problems were exacerbated by cutting the NYPD budget.
"How about blaming the elected officials? How about blaming the City Council for defunding the police and the mayor for defunding the police, and stop vilifying the police," Sliwa said.
Both the NYPD and Police Benevolent Association declined comment on Adams' insistence that troublesome police officers should be shown the door.
