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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio booed at police graduation ceremony

WATCH ABOVE: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke at the NYPD graduation ceremony Monday where he remembered the two officers who were shot and killed in their vehicle in Brooklyn Dec. 20.

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was booed at a police graduation ceremony as tensions between him and rank-and-file police are high.

The cadets sat at attention when de Blasio spoke Monday at Madison Square Garden. But boos and heckles could be heard from some in the crowd where the graduates’ friends and families sat.

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READ MORE: NYC police commissioner says officers were wrong to turn backs to mayor

A few people in the crowd also turned their backs to the mayor. Most, however, applauded politely when he finished speaking.

Police union leaders have accused de Blasio of fostering an anti-NYPD atmosphere. They say it contributed to the killings of two officers earlier this month.

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Many officers turned their backs to a video monitor showing de Blasio speaking at one of the slain officers’ funerals on Saturday.

Police officers turn their backs as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the funeral of New York city police officer Rafael Ramos in the Glendale section of Queens, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014, in New York. AP Photo/John Minchillo

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