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© KEN MURRAY/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSState Senator Eric Adams leaves federal court after testifying at stop and frisk trial.
"He stated that he targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time that they left their homes they could be targeted by police," Adams testifies.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said blacks and Hispanics are targeted for "stop-and-frisks" by police as part of the city's program to get guns off the streets, a state lawmaker testified Monday in court.

State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn)said Kelly made the surprise statement in 2010 during a meeting that included three other public officials - former Democratic Gov. David Paterson, State Sen. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn) and former Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn).

Adams told Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Scheindlin Monday that he raised concerns with Kelly at the 2010 meeting that blacks and Hispanics were disproportionately selected by cops for "stop and frisks."

The Commissioner responded by defending the controversial practice, saying it was an important tool for the department, Adams testified.

"He stated that he targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time that they left their homes they could be targeted by police," Adams said under questioning by plaintiff attorney Jonathan Moore.

"First of all I was amazed that he was comfortable enough to state that that in that setting," Adams testified.

"I was shocked," he said. "I told him that I believe it was illegal and that that was not what stop and frisk was supposed to be used for."

He said Kelly's response was, "How else are we going to get rid of guns?"

The 2010 meeting occurred as Paterson was deciding if he should sign legislation that would bar the NYPD from keeping a database containing information about people stopped and frisked who were not charged with any crime.

Adams, who retired as an NYPD captain seven years ago after more than 20 years of service, was a co-sponsor of the legislation.

Paterson eventually signed the bill into law that July.

Stop and frisk is a "great tool" if used correctly, Adams testified Monday.

"Nowhere are you allowed to use this took to instill fear," he added.

City lawyer Heidi Grossman tried to prove Kelly never made those remarks to Adams during her cross-examination.

She brought out a 2011 affidavit Adams gave to city lawyers that did not mention Kelly using the word "fear."

She also tried to show in a Feb. 2013 deposition, Adams said he wasn't sure if Kelly used the word "targeting."

Grossman tried to read an affidavit from Kelly in 2011 - in which he categorically denied uttering the remarks attributed to him by Adams - but Judge Scheindlin cut her off.

"If he'd like to come here, he's welcome in this courtroom," said Scheindlin. "If he's not going to be here we're not going to have his statement."

Kelly was barred from testifying after city lawyers refused to schedule him for a deposition - but Grossman said his presence wasn't needed anyway.

"I don't think anyone in their right mind would believe the police commissioner would say the police department is targeting, just for targeting, blacks and Hispanics," Grossman said.

The class-action lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights claims the NYPD illegally targets minorities for its "stop-and-frisk" program.