Former Adams teacher says mayor laid groundwork for NYPD moral problems

Long before he entered the political arena, police officer Eric Adams described the behavior of some of his fellow officers as overly aggressive.

But one of the mayor’s critics, who actually taught Hizzoner the finer points of policing years ago, says Adams contributed to the problem he is now trying to solve.

Eugene O’Donnell, a former NYPD officer who now lectures at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and once had Adams in his class, said some cops are now taking a more cautious approach — one that took hold under the former Mayor Bill de Blasio — lines up with much of Adams’ rhetoric from his days as a cop.

Eugene O'Donnell, John Jay College professor and former police officer.

According to O’Donnell, Adams, who served as an NYPD captain, encouraged the change when he was building his reputation as an advocate for police reform but still wore a blue uniform.

The cultural change in police departments across the country has been marked, to varying degrees, by a more cautious, less aggressive approach on the part of cops trying to come to terms with measures designed to curb overly aggressive tactics, massive protests against police brutality and the dominance of cell phone cameras that make filming police on the street extremely easy, experts and police say.

“He has repeatedly and falsely stated that there was systematic persecution of innocent minorities on racial grounds – that is his whole brand,” O’Donnell said. “He is mayor in large part because he made the cheapest of the cheap shots. It is built on the destruction of honest people.”

O’Donnell acknowledged that reforms were certainly needed, but disagreed with Adams’ push for them.

“Certainly there was violence. There were stupid thoughts about too many searches, but he didn’t say that,” he said. “He was generously rewarded for inflammatory accusations that were not true. The ultimate irony here is that he helped create the situation he now claims he is trying to fix.”

More than a year ago, while campaigning for mayor, Adams came under fire for some of his stop-and-frisk comments. He supports her, but has repeatedly pointed to his testimony in federal court about her abuse as an example of his perspective on the matter.

When asked about O’Donnell’s criticism, Adams replied that “as a graduate of John Jay, an institution dedicated to teaching criminal justice to undergraduates, I’m surprised to hear my old professor criticize my resistance to the misuse of ‘stop and search.'”

“While there is still a lot of work to be done, we have turned the tide on crime in this city, and as a result, last month we saw a decrease in the number of murders, shootings, robberies, burglaries, grand thefts and hate crimes,” Adams. said.

“Arrests with firearms are at their highest level in 27 years, robberies are down to the third-best record in December since CompStat was created 30 years ago, and traffic crimes were at their third lowest level in more than 25 years. We will continue to give our police officers the tools they need and deserve to keep New Yorkers safe.”

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