Exclusive data obtained by NY1 shows the NYPD is taking longer to respond to crime scenes this summer compared to last. But Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the reason why isn’t so complex.

“This is about math and it’s really not that complicated from my point of view,” Shea said on “Mornings On 1.”

He said hundreds of millions of dollars have been taken out of the NYPD budget, which resulted in thousands of officers taken off the street.

“I’m going to equate this to a fire raging in the building, and you turn off the hose for the firemen” he said.

“Taking cops off the street leading up to the most violent time of the year, when we have the fewest criminals in the city and state jails — and I would ask anyone — well what did you think was going to happen,” Shea continued.

Over the weekend, there were 29 shootings, which is more than four times the number of incidents compared to this same period a year ago.

Shea said a number of gun arrests were made and cases are being closed, but more work needs to be done. He said repeat offenders continue to be put back on city streets.

“The common denominator here is career criminals,” said the police commissioner.

He said elected officials and policymakers are part of the solution.

“We need to step back, take a look at where we are in terms of just this cycle of cycling individuals in and out of the system. And part of it is mental illness in some cases, part of it is low-level crimes, but the people that are suffering are the people that are walking around on the street and that’s got to stop. I think we can get there,” Shea said.

He pointed out that arrest figures don’t always indicate the number of arrests made because there are a number that are sealed. Arrest figures could be so much as double the number available to the public because they have been disposed and sealed by the criminal justice system, Shea explained.