Chief blames bail law

The NYPD’s top uniformed cop blamed criminal-justice reform and “animosity towards police” for the city’s recent surge of gun violence.

“The violence, the shootings are up,” Chief of Department Terence Monahan (above) said on 77 WABC Radio’s “The Cats Roundtable,” referring to the 125 shootings in the first three weeks of June — the highest number for that period since 1996.

“There are a lot of different reasons for it — starting off with bail reform. Putting people out on the streets . . . releasing everyone from Rikers . . . [and] the animosity towards police has been absolutely unbelievable.”

New bail laws that took effect Jan. 1 prevent the pretrial detention of suspects charged with most misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies.

Monahan said local lawmakers must step in because the police force is a “little confused right now” about what communities are calling for when it comes to police reform.

And Monahan also slammed the new law banning chokeholds by police.

“The idea that if somebody is fighting with you and you put your knee on their back . . . [and] you’re a committing a criminal act, even if you’re fighting for your life . . . it is a dangerous, dangerous law,” he said.

“It took us years and years to get crime down to the level we have it. And to watch it shoot up as it has over the last week or so, it’s bad.”

Overall, crime is down 2.5 percent for the year through June 21, NYPD data show.