NYPD Commissioner Bratton fires back at critics over stop and frisk claims, crime uptick

NEW YORK (WABC) -- NYPD Commissioner William Bratton is responding to concerns about a slight uptick in crime last month, saying stop and frisk is not a significant factor in the city's crime rate.

At the annual NYPD medal ceremony Tuesday, the recent spike in violent crime was never mentioned, but it came on the same day Bratton blasted his critics, writing an article in the New York Post that a reduction in the controversial technique has nothing to do with the increase in shootings and murders.

And he says the crime situation is not all that bad.

Bratton wrote that his critics "are verging on hysteria with their predictions of impending doom," but the police union hit back, saying the answer is hire more cops and let them do their work.

"When you don't have the staffing and people aren't being stopped, the criminals think it's free reign," PBA president Pat Lynch said. "Look, we're not in the 1970s, but we have to stop it now while it's in its infancy, before it gets out of control."

As for Mayor Bill de Blasio, he kept away from all the controversy, focusing on honoring detectives Weijan Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were gunned down last December.

And he spoke in almost biblical terms about police, calling the sherpherds leading their flock.

"People join the NYPD because they believe," he said. "They believe because they want to make people's lives better. They want to help their fellow New Yorkers. They want to keep people safe."

On Wednesday, 320 officers will shift from desk duty to some of the most violent areas in the city as part of the mayor's Summer All Out program.

Iit'll help in the short term, but it's a Band-Aid approach," Lynch said.

The City Council is pushing to hire 1,000 more cops, but the mayor has resisted. A compromise is likely in the works between now and the final budget, due at the end of this month.