NYC cops scorch mayor, vow to 'take back the city from criminals'

Condemning the policies of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York Police Department's largest police union vowed Tuesday to "take back the city from criminals" after 17 people were shot in a single day.

In June, gun crime was 130% higher than this time last year, with 205 incidents in which 39 people died and 270 were injured, reported DailyMail.com

The Sergeants Benevolent Association said on Twitter that de Blasio was trying to blame the spike on COVID-19. But the union contends the problem is that their resources are being cut and the mayor has let so many people out of jail.

On Monday, 17 people were shot in the city, an "astronomical" number for a weekday, the union said.

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The SBA uploaded a video to YouTube on Tuesday morning in which it accused both de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of neglecting public safety.

The union charged that de Blasio was bowing to pressure by slashing the NYPD budget by $1 billion in response to Black Lives Matter demands.

As part of the cut, the approximately 1,000 graduates from the police academy in July will not be given jobs.

In June, Michael O'Meara, the head of New York State's Police Benevolent Association, charged at a press conference that police have been "left out of the conversation" over race and law enforcement in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

O'Meara accused the media and state legislators of "vilifying" police "like animals and thugs" even though the 375 million police interactions nationwide each year are "overwhelmingly positive."

"We all read in the paper all week that in the black community, mothers are worried about their children getting home from school without being killed by a cop. What world are we living in? That does not happen! It does not happen," he said.

'Take back the city from the criminals'

The Sergeants Benevolent Association video was posted Monday morning with the message:

Elected Officials refuse to lead and govern NYC.

It’s our city, it belongs to the people. We’re in this together. It’s time that we all take back the city from the criminals and those who prey on the innocent.

We will lead and we will win!

At a press conference Tuesday morning, de Blasio said New York City continues "to have a real problem around this city with shootings this summer."

"We have seen it in the past, and we've had to fight it before, but we'll have to fight it again," he said. "So much fear is being caused by this spate of shootings."

The mayor said it can be fought by "bringing police and community together in common cause."

Thousands of criminals were released from prison last year under a bail reform package signed by de Blasio.

And at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, they mayor released more from Rikers Island to curb the spread of the virus.