Former NYPD Commissioner Howard Safir ripped New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg on "America's Newsroom" Wednesday after a homeless man with previous criminal offenses was arrested in the stabbing death of a woman in her Chinatown apartment. Safir said the city is at risk of returning to the "bad old days" of the 1970s and 80s unless tougher policing and law enforcement policies are re-implemented.

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HOWARD SAFIR: You have a district attorney who has made it clear that he's not going to prosecute criminals, that he is more involved in social justice than justice for criminals. We have a no-bail law which lets people out. I just noticed in the paper this morning a shoplifter arrested 167 times. That just points out what's wrong with the criminal justice system when somebody is arrested 167 times and is out on the street. We need to reform bail and make sure that judges can hold people in jail if they're a danger to the community.

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We have to go back to what made New York the safest large city in America in the late 90s and 2000s. We have to go back to stop, question and frisk. We have to go back to that sort of policing. We have to restore qualified immunity to police officers so they're not afraid to do their jobs. We have to go back to what worked and it's not working now. And if we don't change things, New York is going to go right back to the bad old days of the 70s and 80s.

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Former NYPD commissioner slams liberal DA as woman's murder sparks outrage: 'More involved in social justice'

Howard Safir rips Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for putting social justice over criminal justice