PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Mayor Michael Bloomberg promised 781 new cops that he and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly "will not stop fighting" to support the NYPD in the wake of the City Council passing two new police oversight measures.
Bloomberg spoke Tuesday at a police academy graduation ceremony at the Barclays Center. He reiterated that New York was "the safest big city in America," noted the record-low number of murders and shootings in 2012 and the even lower numbers so far in 2013.
"If we continue giving officers the tools and support they need to do their jobs," city residents can expect the trend to continue. "[Commissioner Kelly] and I will not stop fighting to make sure this department has the support it needs to keep this city safe."
The City Council last week passed two bills to rein in the NYPD and the controversial stop-and-frisk tactic. One creates an inspector general to oversee the department and the other allows people who feel they were stopped because they were racially profiled to sue.
Kelly noted that the newly sworn-in officers had gone through "six months of the most intensive law enforcement training anywhere." His remarks focused on the relations--and responsibilities--the city's police department has with the residents it protects.
"Remember what the public gives you: They give you their trust," Kelly said. "You do not win that trust once and for all. We earn it, day by day, officer by officer, action by action. That is the only way."
