A news conference Wednesday about the NYPD's push to increase summer patrols turned to clarification about comments attributed to top NYPD brass about the recruitment of minority officers.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said an article that was written about him in the Guardian, a British newspaper, was written by someone whom he didn't interview with and that the reporter took his quotes out of context from another interview he did with the newspaper.

Bratton does stand by his remarks that it is difficult to hire non-white police officers because there are higher rates of criminal records among some minority communities. He said it is a fact that 20 to 30 percent of employers won't hire anyone with a criminal record.

But Bratton took offense to the Guardian article that said he placed some of the blame on the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy. According to Bratton, the NYPD stopped asking its applicants about stop, question and frisk around 2009 or 2010.

"It's not something that prohibits them, but I do, however, believe it gives a negative interaction with the New York City police officers," said Bratton. "Why would they want to become a New York City cop if they feel they've been inappropriately dealt with stop, question and frisk?"

Police officials say there is a pool of qualified black men and women that is being recruited to join the NYPD.

Meanwhile, more than 300 police officers will surge into some of New York City's higher crime areas Thursday night as part of the "Summer All Out" program, which aims to drive down the city's rising rates of murders and shootings.