De Blasio Takes Listener Questions, Discusses NYPD Headcount On Radio Show
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio made a rare appearance on a call-in radio show Friday.
De Blasio took four questions from listeners as part of a half-hour appearance on WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show.''
Three of the callers were from Queens, the other from Manhattan.
De Blasio Takes Listener Questions, Discusses NYPD Headcount On Radio Show
Much of the discussion was about the fate of the mayor's affordable housing agenda in Albany and a recent uptick in city crime.
De Blasio was pressed about his reluctance to embrace a City Council proposal to hire 1,000 new police officers.
"We have 34,500 or so cops at this point who are doing a great job," de Blasio said. "I think you take the last 17 months that I've had the privilege to be mayor and look at what's happened, the NYPD has continued to get better and better all along and has achieved more and more with the existing force levels."
He praised the NYPD and outlined other priorities that need funding, such as homelessness, struggling schools and the jail system.
"I think when you have a force that's effective in the way the NYPD is now and getting better, I think that's a reason to stick with what we're doing," de Blasio said.
His honor also maintains fewer marijuana arrests and stops-and-risks means officers have more time to focus on violent crime, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
The mayor argued the department also has better technology than ever. "We've put in place Shot Spotter, we've put in place the effort to give every officer an iPhone, tablets in every car, better training; all of these pieces are going to add up to a more and more effective NYPD with the force levels we have."
The mayor has received criticism for not regularly engaging with citizens at town halls or radio appearances.
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