An
alarming spike in crime around the country has less to do with the so-called "Ferguson Effect" – where officers allegedly are standing down in the wake of clashes following police shootings of unarmed black men – than it does with "leadership having the police back off intentionally," former New York City Commissioner Bernard Kerik tells
Newsmax TV.
In a panel discussion with "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth, Kerik cautions cities must not "take away the programs of success that we've had."
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"In Baltimore … a major result of the mayor's comments on letting the people do what they want and really going after the cops in a very aggressive manner" is being played out around the country, Kerik contends.
"You cannot let the thugs and the drug dealers, the gangbangers and the gangs, you can't let them control the communities and that's what we're seeing a lot of when you take away the programs of success that we've had that started...."
Former Boston mayor Ray Flynn agreed, telling Hayworth the leader of a city "should step away."
"[D]o your job, keep the city safe, do what is necessary to prevent crime, protect innocent people – not pander to the media… to the criminals and violent protesters … taking control of the street," he said.
Speaking out about the killings by police of two men in Boston who were allegedly targeting police and activist and Islam critic Pam Geller, Flynn called the clash of radical Islam and traditional American values ""the challenge we're having here in America today."
"It's not the police who are the enemy," he said. "Those outsiders are the enemy who are trying to change America."
Kerik praised the Boston investigation and outcome, calling it the future of "fighting terrorism in this country."
"Boston happens to be, just like New York, L.A. and some other major cities around the country and Chicago, where we have Joint Terrorism Task Forces that are consisting of that city's police detectives, state police and federal agents," he said.
"The intelligence communications between the three, the local, the state and the federal agencies are far better than it's ever been before and this is a demonstration of why we have to keep moving in that direction," he added. "There can't be [a lack] of communications. That's what's going to get us hurt...."
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