Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams are calling on the city's Department of Investigations to determine why the police are taking longer to get to the scene of a crime.

"To examine if there is in fact a work slowdown and to what extend has the work slowdown driven the growth in violence in New York City," Torres said at a press conference Monday.

Last week, NY1 reported that response times by police for crimes in progress have risen all summer.

In July, average response times hit 9 minutes and 41 seconds — 1 minute and 12 seconds longer than the average response time last July.

This comes as the number of crimes spiked with 686 shootings in June, July, and August, an increase of 156 percent over the same three months last year.

And there have been 153 murders, a 61 percent jump.

After another spike in shootings over the weekend, the NYPD on Monday announced that police took 31 guns off the streets.

The message: Officers are doing are their jobs.

"New York City police officers and detectives are as dedicated today as they ever have been,” said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. “They put themselves in harm's way every single day and they are out there for the residents of New York City.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio rejected any suggestion that police upset over police reforms are taking longer to get to crime scenes. He blamed a "perfect storm" of problems, including the weak economy and COVID-19 restrictions on court proceedings.

"I am not going to allow the perception to overcome the reality," added the mayor. “The reality is the officers are doing their job under very adverse circumstances.”

Shea said he agreed, adding a number of factors for the slower response times, including budget cuts that have reduced the number of police officers.

"Taking cops off the street leading up to the most violent time of the year when we have the fewest criminals in city and state jails, and I would ask anyone, 'What did you expect was going to happen?'" Shea said.

Torres questioned whether the mayor and the NYPD were evading responsibility: "It is the fault of everything and everyone except the very mayor and the very police department — the very police union whose job is to prevent violence. That argument represents excuse-making."

The Department of Investigations says it has received the request and is reviewing it.

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