NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly claims they have not spoken out after a rash of shootings, and now some local leaders want to hold a summit with Kelly.
Kelly says the leaders in the city's minority communities are not doing enough in response to the violence, complaining that the leaders who rail against the NYPD's Stop and Frisk campaign are "shockingly silent" after a week in which 77 people were shot in the city.
"The casualties in this are mostly young people, mostly young men of color," Kelly said. "And it's something that should be addressed, and should be addressed by political leadership."
The victims include a 3-year-old boy who was caught in the crossfire of a playground gunbattle in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
But State Senator Eric Adams claims Kelly is the one who is disconnected, saying that Stop and Frisk actually adds to the problem. In a letter to the commissioner, Adams writes, "Unfortunately, distrust and lack of communication between police and the community has fostered an uneasy and strained relationship between the two groups."
Adams and other minority leaders go on to call Kelly's comments inflammatory and irresponsible.
The Brooklyn Anti-Violence Coalition has organized a prayer rally Wednesday evening at the Roosevelt Houses on Pulaski Street, which is the site of 3-year-old Isaiah Rivera's shooting.
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