Listen Live
Praise 102.5 Featured Video
CLOSE

Mayor Bill de Blasio (pictured center) responded to the NYPD officers who turned their backs to him at a press conference on Monday, Business Insider reports.

RELATED: Former Eric Garner Lawyer Will Not Face Charges For Rape Allegations

“I can’t understand why anyone would do such a thing in a context like that,” de Blasio said.

“Those individuals who took certain actions this last week — the last two weeks, really — they were disrespectful to the families involved,” he added, taking direct aim at the officers who turned from him at funerals for recently slain colleagues.

Watch a brief snippet of the conference here:

“I think it just defies a lot of what we feel is the right and decent thing to do when you’re dealing with a family in pain.”

NYPD Commissioner Bratton (pictured far right) also called the officers out on their behavior. He had told officers to not repeat the action at Wenjian Liu’s funeral Saturday.

“What was the need, in the middle of that ceremony, to engage in a political action? I don’t get it. And I’m very disappointed — very disappointed — in those who did not respond to my request,” Bratton said.

“I think we need to focus much more on the vast majority who did what was expected, rather than the few who embarrassed themselves.”

The mayor also noted declining crime rates since he took office a year ago. According to NYPD stats, the city experienced 2,600 fewer robberies in 2014; subway crime has also decreased by 15 percent.

Per de Blasio, the city experienced “the lowest number of homicides since the modern policing era began in 1993.”

He also noted that there were 11 percent fewer civilian complaints against the NYPD for 2014.

“You will see these numbers make it clear it’s possible to create a safer city, a fairer city,” de Blasio commented about the numbers.

RELATED: ESPN Anchor Stuart Scott Dead At 49

NYC Mayor Answers Officers Who Turned Backs To Him [VIDEO]  was originally published on newsone.com