‘Cops are mad’ over Pantaleo firing, NYPD chief says

NYPD cops are “mad” about the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, department brass said Sunday — while claiming that a drop in arrests resulting from the firing is not making the city any less safe.

“The cops are upset. Cops are mad. They’re frustrated,” Chief of Department Terence Monahan told John Catsimatidis on on 970 AM’s “Cats Roundtable” Sunday. “They are not happy with the decision, obviously. But just because they’re not happy with the decision doesn’t mean that they would do anything to make this city [less] safe.”

Monahan brushed aside any concern over the dip in arrests following the firing Pantaleo on Aug. 19, saying the reduction in collars was in “mainly minor charges… low-level misdemeanors.”

Between Aug. 19 and Aug. 25, arrests and summonses dropped nearly 30 percent in both categories, according to CompStat numbers.

Sources have chalked up the steep drop — dubbed the “Pantaleo Effect” — to officers avoiding altercations that could result in their being disciplined, such as Pantaleo’s firing for using what Commissioner James O’Neill has called a banned chokehold.

“The majority of our cops live in this city. Their families live in the city. They are parts of these communities,” Monahan continued. “So, they are not going to do anything that would endanger the communities where they work.”

Monahan’s comments echoed those he made on Thursday when asked about a police slowdown as the NYPD geared up for the often violent holiday weekend.

Providing Pantaleo with his pension despite his termination was also “seriously” considered by O’Neill, according to Monahan.

“It’s something that we thought about as a possibility,” he said. “He was seriously considering that as one of his options. But again, he has to speak to a lot of people. This was a very very tough decision for Commissioner O’Neill. I know he struggled with it through the entire weekend until finally coming up with a decision.”

O’Neill has taken heat from the police unions over siding with Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado, who oversaw Pantaleo’s administrative trial and believe the officer should be fired for using an illegal chokehold in Eric Garner’s 2014 arrest in Staten Island.

The Police Benevolent Association unanimously approved a no-confidence vote in O’Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio Thursday.