It is not just anti-policing rhetoric, there are direct policies from Democrat leaders like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that are forcing safety-fearing business and people to flee, according to former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
"There's a feeling of unease," Kelly told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y. "People complain to me all the time: They feel unsafe in the city."
Among the direct policies leading to the massive crime wave is the elimination of the "Anti-Crime Units" as pushed by Mayor de Blasio amid social justice reform pressure from the left, Kelly told host John Catsimatidis.
"I think that has been a major blow to crime fighting in the city," Kelly said. "Anti-Crime Units are plain-clothes police officers who hunt the hunted. They're out there looking for predators. They are addressing violent street crime.
"It has worked very well for years, but this mayor has decided to eliminate the anti-crime units."
Kelly added officers who have been permitted to remain on the streets amid defund the police calls are forced to be wary of their policing.
"The uniform police officers on the streets get absolutely no support and no backing from Mayor de Blasio, so they're backing off," Kelly said. "They become much more reactive rather than proactive. And proactivity has really been the main reason why crime has gone down in New York for a couple of decades.
"Now, all of a sudden, in a few short months it has turned completely around."
This is not a short-term situation merely due to the global coronavirus pandemic shutdowns that remain in heavy force in the city. It will remain as long as Mayor de Blasio does, Kelly said.
"The unfortunate reality is that we're going to have to live with an unacceptably high level of crime," he continued, "as long as this mayor is in office."
"This is going to be one of the reasons why people are not coming back in full force to New York City.
"The police commissioner wants to keep his job. He’s got to do what the mayor tells him to do. As long as that's happening the cops are going to be reactive rather than proactive. They don't want to put their careers on the line. They can very well get arrested for making an arrest.
"We're going to have to live with the situation until this administration leaves office."
Kelly also rebuked Gov. Andrew Cuomo for blaming "ultra-orthodox" Jewish protests for the COVID-19 surge, something he did not publicly do with anti-police rioters, looters, and vandals.
"I know that dealing with the orthodox communities in Brooklyn, they've pretty much made up their mind," Kelly concluded. "They want to be treated like everyone else, particularly the demonstrators that they see time and time again demonstrating without masks."
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