When I wrote about NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new plan to release thousands of additional criminal suspects without bail yesterday, I asked how the police would respond to the news. Since the expanded program would be releasing suspects as old as 19, some of whom will have been charged with violent crimes, it just seemed as if these revolving door policies would make the cops’ jobs tougher. Turns out that it didn’t take long at all for the police to speak up with the same message. And the city’s top cop went so far as to write an op-ed slamming the proposal. (CBS New York)

Is he pandering for votes or needed bail reform?

Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s plan to triple the number of teens who qualify for a get-out-of-jail-free card, even for some serious offenses, is generating push-back from the NYPD, including Commissioner James O’Neill, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reported Tuesday…

To some, it sounds like a man trying to burnish his progressive credentials on the presidential campaign trail. Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch called it, “pandering for votes during his quest for the presidency,” claiming “‘Progress’ like this will doom this city and crash its economy by making our streets dangerous once again.”

So both the head of the PBA and the city’s Police Commissioner are coming out against this proposal. Do you suppose people in those positions might know a thing or two about law enforcement and how to keep the city safe? Hizzoner is still polling around zero in the presidential primary and sooner or later he’s going to have to give up on that and come back home. What sort of reception will he be getting if he trashes New York in an effort to score a few points on the primary trail?

Keep in mind that this is far from the first time de Blasio has lost the faith and confidence of the police. His weak-on-crime, tough on cops policies have led to serious problems for him in the past. You may recall how hundreds of cops turned their backs on de Blasio in 2015 when he spoke at the funeral of slain police officer Wenjian Liu. The same thing happened again in 2017 at the funeral of slain officer Miosotis Familia.

New York City is about as bright blue as it gets in terms of politics, but there’s a limit to how much the residents of Gotham will take, even from a Democrat. While Bill is out on the primary campaign trail trying to score points with the furthest left elements of the Democratic base, the people back home are left with the prospect of criminals charged with crimes up to and including armed robbery being dumped back out into the streets by the thousands. (One estimate says that the jails will hold up to 2,000 fewer people under this policy in a matter of months.)

The Mayor may want to keep in mind that the city charter contains provisions allowing a five-person commission to remove him from office if they think he’s not doing his job. In the meantime, we’ll close with a video taking us on a trip down Memory Lane to the bad old days. Here’s some Fox News coverage of the cops turning their backs on the Mayor at a funeral for one of their fallen colleagues.