Commish rips gov on release for cop killer

THE CITY’S top cop fired off a scathing letter to Gov. Cuomo on the state’s Parole Board’s decision to free cop-killer Herman Bell, claiming the board “failed grievously” by allowing the 70-year-old to go free.

“The message to law enforcement officers in New York, San Francisco, and throughout our country is painfully clear: Your sacrifices can and will be forgotten,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill wrote on Friday. “Herman Bell should remain in prison for the rest of his life. His mind has not changed, his heart has not opened, and his debt has not nearly been repaid.”

O’Neill’s letter came the same day that a judge tossed a lawsuit demanding a new hearing for Bell, claiming that the Parole Board didn’t follow mandated protocols when rendering their decision to free him after nearly fourdecades.

Bell (photo) is scheduled to be set free next week.

Bell, Anthony Bottom and Albert Washington were convicted of executing Police Officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones after luring them to the Colonial Park Houses — now the Rangel Houses — on W. 159th St. with a bogus 911 call on May 21, 1971.

Jones was shot in the head and died instantly, but the three suspects took their time with Piagentini — shooting him 22 times.

Bell only recently began showing remorse for his actions, something O’Neill believes was just a ruse to snow the board.

“He was sufficiently versed in what the Parole Board wanted to hear,” O’Neill wrote. “But what has been characterized as a change of heart is merely a change of strategy.”

O’Neill urged Cuomo to demand the parole board reconsider their “unconscionable determination.”

Cuomo said that he, too, disagreed with the decision — but his hands are tied since the board is an independent body and not under his control.