#Brooklyn BP Eric Adams wants NYPD to prove there’s no ‘unofficial slowdown’

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NYPD officers at the scene of a shooting in The Bronx
Christopher Sadowski

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is demanding the NYPD prove it’s not dragging its feet fighting crime in the wake of police reforms maligned by department brass and law-enforcement unions.

Adams, himself a retired cop, said he has gotten complaints from both cops on the beat and residents who said they were forced to go to precinct station houses in person when officers didn’t respond to calls for help — only to be brushed off, he told The Post Sunday.

“The increase in crime is one thing, but not responding to crime is another thing,” he said, referencing a rise in shootings, murders and burglaries gripping the city this year. “And that is what we must determine.”

“We can’t have police not responding to jobs,” Adam said. “We’re penalizing certain communities based on the action of what people believe elected officials have done. And that can’t happen.”

In a letter to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea released Sunday, the borough president told the top cop that officers have a duty to hustle when summoned, and asked the department to determine “if recent policy changes have caused an unofficial slowdown.”

“New York City cannot have a police force that is either not responding to calls or delaying response to calls due to fear,” Adams, a retired police captain, wrote. “While NYPD leadership may not agree with the City Council’s actions regarding police reform, this cannot be used as an excuse for reduced response time from the NYPD.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio last week signed a series of measures allowing prosecutors to criminally charge police who use chokeholds or sit, kneel or stand on a suspect’s chest and back. The bills were passed by the City Council last month.

The legislation comes in the wake of a backlash against police nationwide following the May 25 police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who died after being pinned down by the neck while repeatedly pleading “I can’t breathe.”

In recent weeks, New York City has also been plagued by an uptick in shootings and a precipitous drop in arrests.

NYPD data released last week shows that citywide arrests for major crimes over a 28-day period were down by 62 percent over the prior month compared to the same time period last year. Meanwhile shooting incidents had spiked by more than 210 percent over the same month from last year.

Over the past week alone police reported 63 shootings compared to 20 over the same week in 2019.

The city’s new police reforms have prompted several neighboring departments to issue decrees barring their officers from law enforcement activities within the five boroughs, including Nassau County and Westchester County.

Regardless, Adams said the new NYPD restrictions are no excuse for lax policing. He said each precinct has an integrity unit that has 911 response times readily available and wants to have those numbers compiled and released.

“There were many bills and laws that were passed while I was a police officer that I didn’t like,” he said. “But I was a professional, and that’s what our police must maintain.”

Adams said he has not gotten a reply to his letter to Shea and will reach out to de Blasio for a response if that doesn’t change.

Police officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment.