NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa has turned down the NYPD's offer to provide him a security detail as he continues to campaign across the city, over police budget cuts last year.
“I cannot in good conscience take revenue away from the NYPD by requiring a security detail. As the founding member of the Guardian Angels and candidate for mayor, I stand with our police and as your mayor I will do the same,” Sliwa said in a letter to NYPD Intel Chief Thomas Galati.
Sliwa noted in the letter that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council cut the NYPD's funding by nearly $1 billion last year.
“This of course was in response to the perilous progressive cries to ‘defund’ our city’s police department. As crimes continue to ravage our city, this defunding was completely unjustified, and its effects have been detrimental to the NYPD,” Sliwa added.
This year, the mayor and council increased the NYPD budget by $200 million in order to cover overtime costs. The money, however, will not be used to hire additional officers.
“The loss of 5,300 officers in 2020 to attrition and early retirement amid an anti-cop climate has only made our city less safe. This new reality has left our city of eight million residents with only 34,994 on-duty NYPD officers, with no hiring plan in sight.”
Sliwa also said that he would forgo a police security detail if elected mayor.