The rapper-actor was barred from beginning work on his latest flick, Order of Redemption, on Saturday after the New York Police Department's "safety concerns" forced producers to proceed without him.

Julianne Cho, associate commissioner with the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting, confirmed authorities had contacted her office about Rhymes but did not go into detail on what exact issues the police had.

"The production agreed that Busta Rhymes would not be participating in the scenes shot here after the police department raised public safety concerns," Cho said in a statement.

An NYPD spokesperson declined to elaborate.

The crime thriller, costarring Tom Berenger (Platoon, Major League), has received permits from the city to shoot in Manhattan for 14 nonconsecutive days through early April. According to IMDb, the production is also scheduled to shoot in New Jersey.

Redemption's director, Jeff Celentano, said he was displeased by the decision to prohibit his star from the set."This is tremendeously unfair to Busta, who has been nothing buy professional during this project," the filmmaker said in a statement. "This is a bigger loss for the city of New York."

The film's producer, Rob Capelli, told the New York Daily News that the decision to bar Rhymes from being on set was strictly financial."We were unfortunately unable to meet the additional cost for the police detail," Capelli said.

Cho said that shooting was completed Saturday without Rhymes but "with the usual support from the NYPD film division."

Although the department spokesperson refused to confirm, police had expressed frustration over the 34-year-old performer's failure to cooperate in the murder probe of his bodyguard, Israel Ramirez. Ramirez was killed in February 2006 by an unknown assailant outside a Brooklyn warehouse where Rhymes was shooting a music video.

No suspects have been arrested and the investigation has since stalled. Detectives have publicly groused that the "Dangerous" emcee, whose real name is Trevor Smith, has refused answer queries about who might have been gunning for Ramirez.

Rhymes' lawyer, Scott Leemon, declined to comment on the matter, saying, "We will address it later in the week." But back in August, Leemon called out the NYPD for allegedly targeting his client in retaliation for his stonewalling of the murder probe, pointing to the string of trouble Rhymes has encountered since Ramirez's murder.

The platinum-selling rap star is currently considering a plea deal for two misdemeanor assault counts stemming from a pair of 2006 arrests.The first involved a 19-year-old fan, who claimed he was roughed up by Rhymes last summer after spitting on the entertainer's SUV. The second allegation came from a 39-year-old man, reputed to the entertainer's former driver, who said he was beaten up by Rhymes in December in a dispute over money.

Rhymes has pleaded not guilty in both cases and has few weeks to consider the offer. The next court date is set for Mar. 26.

Last month, the Brooklyn-born performer was pulled over for running a red light. After discovering he was driving with a suspended license for failing to answer a summons, officers took Rhymes into custody and booked him on charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and unlicensed driving.

Rhymes could face up to 30 days in jail if he's convicted on the first count, a misdemeanor, while the second charge is an infraction, which will likely net him an unspecified fine.