#De Blasio defends NYC’s top cop for calling lawmakers ‘cowards’ over reforms

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that it “wasn’t constructive” for the the police commissioner to call lawmakers “cowards” during a crime meeting last week — but gave the city’s top cop a pass to air his frustration.

“That language wasn’t constructive… I don’t think it’s helpful,” de Blasio said during his Monday morning press conference but added, “He and I have talked about it and I’ve understood it was important for him to express some of those concerns.

“I think we just need to understand there’s a lot of frustrations out there. I have a lot of respect for him and I think on Friday we were able to lay out the vision for moving forward.”

The mayor’s defense of the Police Commissioner Dermot Shea was in response to a video from Thursday’s CompStat meeting, where the city’s top cop admonished lawmakers, saying “they have screwed this city up so bad in such a short period of time.”

“You are going to be incredibly tested,” Shea said in the pep talk to police brass, obtained by The Post.

“It’s going to take some time to get our arms around it… it’s going to take a little bit of time, it’s already starting. Cops are already challenged in how they police today.”

The comments came a day before the mayor and Shea unveiled their vague plan to combat the surging gun violence in New York City, which the commissioner said was the topic of the crime meeting.

The city’s top cop also railed against the city’s systems of governments, calling them “cowards” who have failed to lead while continually putting the blame on the NYPD.

“People that don’t have a clue about how to keep New Yorkers safe suddenly think they know about policing. I have another thing to tell them: ‘They don’t have a goddamn clue what they’re talking about.’ ”

“But we are not going to let them destroy this city.”

City lawmakers recently passed a package of police reform laws, including one that criminalizes chokeholds, which has led to some other agencies outside the city to tell its cops not to head into the Big Apple.

In addition, the NYPD had its officer overtime reduced and lost the next academy class as part of a billion-dollar cut in the city’s recent budget.

That problem, though, Shea said was for him to deal with as the rank-and-file try to work under unprecedented times to curb crime in Gotham.

“We are not giving this goddamn city back to criminals,” Shea added.

Major crime remains down nearly 3 percent in NYC for the year, according to NYPD stats released Monday, but gun violence, murders and burglaries have all risen.

Over the past month, shootings have skyrocketed by almost 200 percent compared to last year, with 250 incidents of gunplay reported, up from 85. More than 200 more people than last year also fell victim to gunfire over that time.

At the same time, arrests have plummeted by 62 percent with police recording roughly 10,500 fewer arrests, including gun arrests which were down by nearly 60 percent.