The mayor of the city "sets the tone" of its law enforcement, and in the administration of liberal New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the tone has gone along with an increase in crime, according to former police commissioner Ray Kelly.
In an interview with "The Steve Malzberg Show" Friday on Newsmax TV, Kelly said his new book,
"Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting Its Empire City," published by Hachette, Kelly said there are "three overarching lessons in there."
Story continues below video.
"Proactive policing saves lives, proactive investigations in the realm of terrorism saves lives and … the mayor is the chief law enforcement officer of any city, that’s the person who sets the tone," Kelly explained of his themes.
"The police in many ways are the mechanics, carrying out the policies and the tone of the mayor and we see that here."
Kelly famously declared in the days before de Blasio started his tenure at City Hall that controversial stop-and-frisk policies "can never be eliminated" as a crime-fighting measure, despite de Blasio's fierce opposition.
Today, however, Kelly tells Newsmax TV "the message … given to the police officers is don’t engage. … you’re going to have a rise in violence and that’s what we are experiencing now."
Kelly also decried as "disgraceful" the attacks on police officers amid rising racial tensions triggered by the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Freddie Grey in Baltimore.
Story continues below video.
"Cops do such great work throughout the country," he said. "Crime has been down for two decades in the country as a result of smarter policing and proactive policing, we call it. There’s been tremendous benefit. "
"Talk about ‘Black Lives Matter,’" he added. "We think black lives matter right here in this city and we’ve done an awful lot to save them. "
Get Ray Kelly's New Book --
"Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting Its Empire City" -- at Amazon.com.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.