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Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Sunday that the wave of violence across the country is giving him flashbacks to high-crime decades of the past — as he lamented the Big Apple’s own surge.
“As the famous Yankee catcher, Yogi Berra, once said, ‘Déjà vu all over again,’” Bratton said during an appearance on WABC 770’s “The Cats Roundtable.”
“What’s happening today in America [in] 2022 reminds me very much of what was happening in the late ’80s and early ’90s in this country and in New York,” he continued.
The retired chief — who helmed the nation’s largest police department during New York City’s rough early 1990s — expressed shock about recent NYPD data showing a 37% increase in major crimes citywide.
“I never in my lifetime expected to ever see numbers like that for New York City,” Bratton told host John Catsimatidis.
“I predicted for the last 25 years that it would never go up again,” he added, “but, boy was I wrong!”
Though both homicides and rapes dropped 15.8% and 4.3% respectively in March compared to 2021, shootings, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larcenies, auto thefts and hate crimes are all up compared to last year.
Crime in the city remains far lower than it was during a period that has been dubbed the “bad ol’ days” of the 80s and 90s — but is still at a five-year high overall, according to the numbers released Wednesday.
Bratton — who returned to helm the NYPD between 2014 and 2016 and also led the Los Angeles and Boston police departments — blamed the increase in crime on left-wing prosecutors and politicians.
“The cause of our current crime problem … is political,” he said. “The idea that so many of our legislators, governors, mayors around the country and in Washington are much more focused on the rights of defendants and less focused on the rights of the victims. We have seen this horrific breakdown in the criminal justice system.
“At one time prosecutors worked closely with police,” he added. “Now, they spend more time ignoring them.”
Bratton has praised Mayor Eric Adams’ public safety approach and wished the retired NYPD captain “luck” with the criminal justice system “mess” created by state politicians.
He had a grim forecast for both the Big Apple and the US.
“Things … will get worse. That is my prediction,” Bratton said.
“I don’t see this being a very peaceful summer … either in New York or in the country, ” he said, referencing concern shared by Adams that shootings will increase this summer as they historically do during the warmer months.
Bratton added, “Maybe voters will start waking up and … put into office people who are willing to tackle the current crime and disorder problem that we are experiencing.”
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