Mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio offered no real solution Thursday when confronted with statistics revealing an alarming rise in gun violence that followed a federal judge’s ruling against the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program.
The Democratic nominee opposes the practice, but when asked point blank how he intends to keep the city safe, he would speak only in generalities.
“We must restore the relationship between the police and community,” he said without explaining how that could be accomplished.
As first reported by The Post Thursday, shootings were up 13 percent and gun seizures were down more than 17 percent in the 28-day period ending Sept. 8 as compared with the same period in 2012.
But de Blasio insisted “nothing has changed in the approach to policing” since Manhattan federal Judge Shira Scheindin’s Aug. 12 decision.
“The judge’s order just happened and has not been implemented so obviously has not affected day-to-day policing,” the Democrat said.
But several police sources have said cops are reluctant to do more than the bare minimum because of the reforms ordered by the judge.
De Blasio’s November opponent, Republican Joe Lhota, took a much stronger stance.
He said Scheindlin’s ruling — along with two anti-stop-and-frisk laws enacted over Mayor Bloomberg’s veto — was “handcuffing the police.”
“I stood right here [at City Hall], and I said that these actions will actually — you will see crime increase,” said Lhota, a former MTA chair and a deputy mayor under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“We’ve seen shootings go up. We’ve seen killings go up. And it’s directly related to the fact that all of these bills, all of these actions, have had a chilling effect upon the Police Department.”
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said it was too soon to say whether the stats reflected a trend, “but it’s obviously something that we do and have to watch closely. And we will.”
Asked about the drop in gun seizures that accompanied the rise in shootings, Kelly said, “Obviously, there is a generalized concern that these pieces of legislation, the City Council, the judge’s decision, may have somewhat of a chilling effect on officers’ engagement.”
Kelly also said he was stunned to learn from The Post that Scheindlin had appointed a panel of 13 law professors to help reform the stop-and-frisk program.
“I know nothing about it. I read it in the newspaper today. Quite frankly, I don’t know what their role is. I don’t know who they’re advising. I don’t know what their experience is,” Kelly said.
“We have plenty of lawyers on both sides. So, if the judge thinks we need more lawyers, then we’ll see.”
“I think probably people with some more real-world experience, street experience, would also be helpful.”
City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the panel of professors “may wind up fiddling while New York City burns.”
“NYPD policy, which is the most effective in the nation, should be left to experts like Ray Kelly,” he said.