The NYPD’s top cop spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since announcing his decision to terminate embattled Officer Daniel Pantaleo — firing back at a police union boss who called the department “rudderless and frozen.”

“I have all the confidence in the world in the men and women of the NYPD, that they’ll continue to do their job,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said on “CBS This Morning.”

“The reason why they took this job is to make a difference, to keep people safe,” he continued. “They didn’t do it for the sense of appreciation — they certainly didn’t do it for the amount of money they are getting paid.”

O’Neill announced Monday that he would follow NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado’s decision to fire Pantaleo for his involvement in the chokehold death of Eric Garner on July 17, 2014.

He acknowledged at the time that if he were still an officer, “I’d probably be mad at me.”

Later that day, Police Benevolent Association president Patrick “Patty” Lynch furiously shot back, calling for a union “no confidence” vote in O’Neill and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“The leadership has abandoned ship and left our police officers on the street alone, without backing,” Lynch exclaimed at a press conference in Lower Manhattan, as he stood in front of a police flag hung upside-down as a “distress” signal.

On Thursday, O’Neill admitted Lynch’s “no confidence” vote directive was “difficult to hear,” but reaffirmed his decision and explained that his job is “to protect everybody in this city.”

“This is what Patty does,” he said, later adding: “Patty Lynch is doing what he thinks he needs to do for the membership, but he also has to be careful that he doesn’t destroy their confidence.”

“Look at where we are in this city right now,” he continued. “Look at 25 years ago and look at where we are now. We got that way because of the sacrifices of the men and women of this police department.”

NYPD Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, one of two supervisors assigned to the Staten Island crime scene the day Garner died, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a departmental charge of failure to supervise after reaching an agreement with NYPD officials. She will lose 20 vacation days as punishment.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association is slated to discuss the matter at a Thursday morning press conference.