OH, SHEA CAN

Mayor, top cop butt heads on NYPD policy

Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD don’t exactly see eyeto-eye on some things, but that’s just fine with Hizzoner.

Asked Friday about recent public statements from the NYPD that contradict his own pronouncements, de Blasio seemed to shrug off the differences, saying simply “sometimes we disagree.”

De Blasio and the NYPD have publicly expressed at least two differences in opinion in recent days — one on legislation that would enable greater scrutiny of the department’s surveillance program and another on whether to remove school safety agents from the NYPD.

Their differing viewpoints come at a time when the mayor is under enormous pressure to mandate increased police accountability after the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer. His death led to protests and looting in the city.

De Blasio said this week that he would sign off on a City Council bill that would require the NYPD to release more information about its facial recognition and other data-capture programs.

But an NYPD spokeswoman slammed the bill earlier this week, saying it would

“literally require the NYPD to advertise on its website the covert means and equipment used by undercover officers who risk their lives every day.”

“No reasonable citizen of New York City would ever support that,” the spokesperson concluded.

De Blasio disagrees. “I have gone over the language in that bill very carefully with the lawyers at City Hall. We are absolutely con

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea (right) and Mayor de Blasio (inset right) don’t see eye to eye on a couple of key policies, including police surveillance (left) and using officers to patrol in schools (above).