The war of words between Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and his predecessor, Ray Kelly, escalated Monday with each slamming the other’s stance on stop-and-frisk tactics.
Bratton said fixing the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy was the “No. 1 concern” of the city’s black population when he reassumed control of the department in 2014, according to an article in The New Yorker.
“We should not make the mistake of my predecessor on the stop-question-and-frisk issue,” Bratton told the magazine.
But Kelly responded: “That was not the feeling of much of the communities of color. It was the view of activists. I’m telling him, he’s wrong.”
The two have been sparring since Kelly attacked Bratton and Mayor de Blasio in his new book — as first reported in The Post — saying Hizzoner has made the city less safe since he’s been in office.
Bratton said he was “looking forward to buying a copy” of the book. But he was still quick to defend his boss, calling de Blasio the best mayor he’s ever worked for.