Appointing an inspector general to oversee the NYPD is a recipe for disaster, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday.
“I think if you want to bring crime back, let’s go politicize control of the Police Department,” the mayor said, responding to a reporter’s question about a new City Council bill requiring an IG for cops getting a hearing tomorrow.
“The last thing we need is some politician or judge getting involved with setting policy, because you won’t be safe anymore. But today, you are. Think about that when you write your story,” Bloomberg added.
Thirty of the council’s 51 members have signed on to the IG measure.
Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), one of the lead sponsors, pointed out that even the CIA and FBI have that type of oversight.
“Inspectors general don’t make policy and they don’t politicize departments,” said Lander.
“Quite simply, inspectors general help agencies to know and tell the truth . . . The only agency that would have something to fear from an inspector general would be one that was violating the law, undermining civil rights or feared telling the truth.”
Bloomberg pointed out that the city murder rate is at record-low levels, while shootings are declining.
“If people aren’t happy with this Police Department and what Commissioner [Ray] Kelly has created and the 55,000 people that work in the PD, I don’t know what would make you happy,” he said.