NYPD Commish Bratton: Mayor de Blasio owes no apology as tensions escalate to 1970s levels

By RYAN GORMAN

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton feels Bill de Blasio has lost the trust of some officers but insists the mayor owes no apology for the risen tensions between the city's "Finest" and New Yorkers.

Bratton made the comments during a Monday appearance on NBC's "Today." He also bemoaned policing in a climate similar to the 1970s.

"Who would've ever thought déjà vu all over again, that we would be back where we were 40-some-odd years ago," said Bratton.

The commissioner claimed frictions between police and communities rival those in the 1970s, when violent protests often erupted in many areas of the city.

Bratton said he feels Saturday's double murder of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu came as tensions escalate following two grand jury decisions to not indict cops over the deaths of multiple civilians this summer.

"It's quite apparent, quite obvious, that the targeting of these two police officers was a direct spinoff of this issue of these demonstrations," said Bratton.

Shooter Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, posted warnings on Instagram related to Staten Island man Eric Garner and Ferguson teen Michael Brown in the minutes before he killed both cops and then turned the gun on himself.

Brinsley has an extensive criminal record and was previously treated for mental illness. He shot his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore before making his way to New York for the grim killings.

Many police have privately grumbled, including to AOL News, that de Blasio has not had the NYPD's back throughout the turmoil.

"I don't believe that at all," said Bratton. I've spent a lot of time with this man. I have received this year over $400 million outside of my normal budget to improve our training, to improve our facilities, to acquire technology."

Police have also complained about the mayor allowing protestors to virtually have the run of the city while demanding an apology and asking him to not attend funerals for fallen officers.

A PBA memo obtained exclusively by AOL News claimed de Blasio has "blood on his hands" and that the NYPD has become a "wartime police department."

The "blood on his hands" comment was echoed by PBA chief Pat Lynch outside the Brooklyn hospital where both shot officers were pronounced dead. A spokesperson later tried to distance the police union from the rest of the screed.

"I don't know that an apology is necessary," Bratton told NBC. "One of the things, a concern at the moment, is this issue is really starting to go down partisan lines Republican/Democrat.

"This is something that should be bringing us all together, not taking us apart."

Many politicians have called for a "cooling off period" in the protests.

Romero's family has said the mayor is welcome at the slain officer's funeral.

Related links:
Major rift emerges between NYPD, mayor in wake of officers being shot dead
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NYPD fumes over lack of support from Mayor de Blasio in wake of Eric Garner grand jury decision