'Stop the theater!' NYPD chief, former commissioner torch Gov. Hochul for deploying National Guardsmen amid crime surge

Current and former New York Police Department officials this week torched Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for her decision to deploy 750 National Guardsmen to New York City subway systems amid a surge in violent crime, the New York Post reported.

On Wednesday, Hochul announced a "five-point plan," which included sending 1,000 New York National Guardsmen, New York State Police officers, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police officers to assist the NYPD with conducting bag checks in the transit system, Blaze News previously reported.

Hochul launched the plan in response to a series of "brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system."

"You'll start seeing them at the tables, making sure that weapons are not being brought in, working in concert with our New York State Police," the governor said, referring to her plan to increase law enforcement presence.

New York Chief of Patrol John Chell slammed Hochul's plan, stating that New Yorkers "want truth and solutions."

Chell noted that transit crime has decreased by 12% over the last five weeks because additional NYPD officers were deployed as part of a plan he attributed to the department and New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams.

"Our transit system is not a 'war' zone!" Chell wrote on X. "Bag checks have been around since 2005."

He blasted Hochul's soft-on-crime policies.

"Let's try this," Chell continued. "When we arrest recidivists we arraign, indict, prosecute and incarcerate. Let's fix 'Bail Reform' by eliminating discovery restraints so the DAs can incarcerate recidivists. Parolees, when they violate they go back to jail. 'Less is More' hurts our city. 'Harm against Harm' properly utilized for bail/remand of recidivist. Hold judges to account."

Chell concluded his comments by writing, "If you want change, then vote for the change you seek. This is what NYers want and deserve. All STAKEHOLDERS do your job! Keep our city safe."

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry shared the chief of patrol's post and added, "Remember when we said recidivism is a problem? ... Crime is driven by a small group of people committing many crimes."

During a recent interview with WPIX, Chell explained, "There are other stakeholders in the criminal justice system business."

"Every arrest we make, we then hand off to other stakeholders — prosecutors, judges who are bound by laws passed by state legislators. And, somehow, we're arresting the same people over and over and over," he said.

"As I've been repeatedly saying since day one, the lack of consequences for repeat offenders poses one of the biggest challenges towards the safe subway system New Yorkers deserve. I'm glad to see this important topic is now getting the attention it so rightfully deserves," Chell stated on X Friday.

Former NYPD Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik had even more fiery remarks about Hochul's leadership, calling her plans to deploy troops "all a farce."

"You're going to harass law abiding citizens, and the thugs carrying a 40 cal, or 9 mm, walk right by you because they're not carrying a bag!" Kerik shared in a post on X. "Stop the theater!"

"Repeal or eliminate bail reform, lock up the thugs and sentence to the max," he continued. "The NYPD knows their job! Give them the tools and laws they need to do the job and we wouldn't have this problem! This isn't brain surgery. We've done this before, and we did it better than anyone in the country. It can be done with the right leadership!"

"Crime is up in New York, because the governor is scared to death to piss off the radical left, endangering communities and endangering our cops!" Kerik added.

The former commissioner told Hochul to "do [her] job!"

The governor responded to some of the criticism by defending her new plan and claiming that "the laws are there to go after repeat offenders."

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