More back-and-forth took place on the mayoral campaign trail Friday, as candidates Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota sparred over the New York Police Department’s use of stop-and-frisk.
New statistics indicate there’s been a spike in crime since a judge ruled the tactic unconstitutional.
Lhota used those numbers to criticize de Blasio, who wants to end stop-and-frisk policy.
Lhota says de Blasio is more concerned about criminals than victims, but de Blasio says stop-and-frisk undermines safety in the city, by fostering distrust between people and the NYPD.
“My opponent’s answer was, ‘We need to do more to change the relationship between the NYPD and the community.’ Please tell me that is not his answer to explain to the mother of a child that was killed that we have to increase relationships. What we need to do is to continue to have proactive policing,” Lhota said.
“Ask any cop. They’re there to stop crime. They are professionals. They’re trained. They want to be able to pursue their profession as they have been trained to do. So, I believe fundamentally that we can make these changes and be safe, or safer, but we haven’t seen anything change in terms of the policy yet to even judge what the effect of the judge’s ruling is,” de Blasio said.
De Blasio, who is currently way ahead in the polls, also picked up the endorsement on Friday of Senator Charles Schumer.
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=14204
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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