ALBANY — Acting Chief Robert Sears issued a blistering statement Monday criticizing a police union official for an inflammatory Facebook post as the city emerged from a week that saw two men killed and 12 others injured.

Late Sunday night, Greg McGee, the union’s vice president, wrote a lengthy post on the union’s Facebook page criticizing Mayor Kathy Sheehan and an anti-violence group that responds to shootings.

Most of the accusations in McGee’s post were either misleading or false, Sears said.

"I would contend Greg McGee has done more to negatively impact morale than anyone else," Sears said in his statement around noon. "Greg McGee has damaged all the hard work that members of the department have done over the years with one misguided attempt to make himself feel superior."

McGee did not return multiple calls for comment.

Albany Police Officers Union President David Verrelli stood by the post and said the issues facing his members due to contract negotiations and the spate of violence have been "muddled."

Verrelli said the union would not be issuing an apology regarding the Cure Violence remark because it was "taken out of context."

"It had nothing to do with the horrible events. It was merely one person's observation, but at the same time Officer McGee did address issues that are at the forefront of a lot of officers' minds," Verrelli said. "I merely believe that it was just poor timing. That's all it was."

There have been seven homicides in the city so far this year, compared to eight for all of 2017. A series of shootings between July 3 and 8 resulted 12 injuries and the Saturday-morning death of Elijah Cancer, an anti-violence outreach worker. Another man, Rashaun Byrd, was killed in a stabbing early Thursday morning.

Sears said he typically does not comment on internal issues but McGee's comments, his refusal to apologize or deal with Sears face to face forced him to issue a statement to the community.

McGee’s post, which was deleted Monday morning, blamed the violence on, "wanna be gangsters and senseless criminals" and said officers' jobs are becoming more difficult as a result of changes in city policy and staffing shortages.

In the post, McGee said the department is understaffed, underfunded and officers are working with equipment that is out of date or doesn't work.

Sears called several of those claims inaccurate.

McGee's post also criticized the city's relationship with Albany Cure Violence, an anti-violence group in the city.

"We should be asking what exactly does CURE violence do besides show up to crime scenes and the hospital smelling to high heaven like marijuana," McGee wrote.

Because of that one statement, Sears said, he had to speak out.

"That comment - completely unnecessary, insensitive, inflammatory - has the ability to undermine this whole department, this whole community and everything we've done in one sentence," he said.

Sears said the department and Cure Violence have the same goal – ending street violence in the city.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cure Violence and their staff,” Sears said. “I have stood with them since their inception here in Albany and I stand with them now.”

Here's Sears' complete statement:

Responding to McGee's statement Monday morning, Sheehan said the city's outbreak of violence "is not a one-solution problem. There isn't just one single thing the city can do or the police department can do."

Citing ongoing contract negotiations, Sheehan declined to discuss labor issues the union brought up beyond calling them false.

The union has been working without a new contract for several years. An arbitration award earlier this year awarded the union a 1 percent raise, retroactive to 2015, that cost the city approximately $600,000.

Sheehan called on the union to apologize for using "dog-whistle language" to criticize and question the usefulness of Albany Cure Violence.

"I think they're owed an apology," said the mayor, who added that she had discussed McGee's post with Sears.

Harris Oberlander, CEO of the Trinity Alliance, which oversees Albany Cure Violence, said he's glad the post was taken down. Trinity later Monday made several posts on its Facebook page detailing the work that Albany Cure Violence does.

"Trinity Alliance works closely with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services in regards to certifications, training and implementation of this vital anti-violence program, including, but not limited to, conducting random drug testing of our SNUG and Trinity staffers," one post stated. "Our outreach workers lead by example and earn the trust of our participants by showing them that a violence-free lifestyle is desirable."

Sheehan and Sears both attended a rally Sunday afternoon in Arbor Hill that called for community members to step up and help officers stop the violence.