Democrat Eric Adams criticizes his party for 'demonizing' police: 'Few have ever been part of law enforcement'
Democrats have 'thrown up their hands' at inner city problems, Adams says after winning NYC mayoral primary
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the projected winner of the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, hit his party on Wednesday for abandoning cities and "demonizing" police forces as crime surges throughout the country.
"Because we have abandoned our cities, what's happening in New York City, it's taking place in Chicago southside, it's taking place in California and Atlanta," Adams said on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday.
Adams, a 22-year police veteran, pointed to gun violence, but argued that inefficiencies in education can also be blamed for the rise in criminal activity, noting that "if we don't educate, we'll incarcerate." His party, Adams argued, has not properly addressed these root causes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You're seeing a Democratic Party, basically they've thrown up their hands and we're continuing to see the same problems in our inner cities," he said. "We need to turn it around."
"When you look at the Democratic Party and you're doing an analysis, you find very few people have ever been part of law enforcement," Adams added. "And we have demonized public protection in this city, and country because we have too many abusive officers who are allowed to stay in our agency. But at the same time, we have ignored the problems that fed violence in our country, and I say we need to stop doing that."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Crime in New York City has become more widespread and blatant in recent weeks. Statistics provided to Fox News show that homicides are up more than 12%, robberies are up more than 5%, and felony assaults are up nearly 7% from last year. Violence even struck close to home for Adams after one of his campaign volunteers was repeatedly stabbed in the Bronx last month.
The Biden administration recently claimed that it was Republicans who were trying to defund the police because of their opposition to the $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief bill, since it allocated $350 billion for state and local government aid. The Washington Post slapped "Three Pinocchios" on that claim in a recent fact check.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Others, like MSNBC contributor Brittany Packnett Cunningham, claimed that the rise in crime in New York City was the fault of the police themselves.
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New York City Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels volunteer organization of unarmed crime prevention, was among the leaders to be outraged by that claim.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"To defund the police, take guns from police, and blame police for the growing crime problem is to render the police into a Reactive and not a Proactive force," Sliwa said. "This is not Nirvana. The followers of AOC, better known as All Out Crazy, want to weaken policing even more."