Mamdani flubs (and fibs) on policing issue

In the wake of the mass shooting in New York City, mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani attempted to unhook himself from his long-time attacks on policing in the Big Apple. He failed miserably.

The tragedy that unfolded in Midtown Manhattan—a mass shooting that claimed four lives, including that of NYPD Officer Didarul Islam—was a moment that demanded clarity, leadership, and a firm stance on public safety. Instead, New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani offered platitudes and political backpedaling — revealing the dangerous contradictions at the heart of his campaign.

Mamdani’s attempt to express sympathy for the victims and gratitude for first responders was swiftly met with skepticism. His social media post mourning Officer Islam was juxtaposed with his long history of anti-police rhetoric. In 2020, Mamdani tweeted, “We want to defund the police,” and later declared, “Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence”. These weren’t isolated remarks—they were part of a consistent ideological stance that cast the NYPD as “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety”.

Now, in the heat of a general election campaign, Mamdani insists he has no plans to defund the police.  Baloney!  His policy proposals tell a more accurate story. His plan to replace police officers with healthcare workers and social service responders in cases of domestic violence is not just a reallocation of resources—it’s a fundamental shift in how the city responds to its most volatile emergencies. In a 2020 podcast, Mamdani argued that domestic violence calls should be handled by “people trained to deal with those specific situations, as opposed to an individual with a gun” (my emphasis).

Mamdani’s proposal is insane.  Domestic violence calls are consistently among the most dangerous for law enforcement.  Between 2010 and 2014, 22 percent of officers killed during service calls died while responding to domestic disputes.  In 2024, domestic calls accounted for roughly 7.7 percent of all gunfire-related officer deaths across the nation. This does not include all the woundings, stabbings and other injuries.  Nationally, officer deaths from domestic disputes run between 5 and 15 percent annually – largely depending on the location. These statistics hold up year after year.  Sending unarmed social workers puts them in mortal danger and is likely to lead to the deaths of other parties in the dispute. 

By way of example:

• Deputy Elijah Ming, Wyandotte County, Kansas (2025): Fatally shot while assisting a woman moving out of a home.

• Officers Jones, Gardner, and Marquez, Odessa, Texas (2007): All three were killed during a domestic violence call when the suspect opened fire as they tried to enter the home.
• Sergeant Henry Prendes, Las Vegas (2006): Shot over 50 times by a man on drugs wielding an assault rifle during a domestic call.
• Trooper Lawrence Gleason, New York State (2002): Killed by a suspect with a high-powered rifle while interviewing a domestic violence victim.

These are only four of the hundreds of examples since the turn of the century.

Survivors and advocates have spoken out against Mamdani’s proposal, warning that removing police from these responses could cost lives. Michelle Esquenazi, founder of the Victims Rights Reform Council, recounted how NYPD officers saved her life during a violent attack by her ex-husband. “If Mamdani puts in any sort of barrier to victims getting immediate help from NYPD, then many lives will be lost,” she said.

Mamdani’s public safety platform also includes the creation of a Department of Community Safety (unarmed social workers), which would absorb responsibilities currently held by the NYPD. This bureaucratic reshuffling is a thinly veiled attempt to defund and dismantle the police by attrition. It’s not reform, it’s replacement. It is defunding essential police functions.

Then there’s his stance on the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG), a specialized unit tasked with handling mass shootings, riots, and civil unrest. In December 2024, Mamdani pledged to “disband the SRG,” accusing it of “brutalizing countless New Yorkers exercising their First Amendment rights”.  In other words, Mamdani would allow the outbreaks of violent riots to go unchallenged by police.  History shows that a strong police presence tends to limit violence and deal with it in a timely fashion if it breaks out.   The timing of Mamdani’s plan to disband the SRG couldn’t be more damning. The SRG was among the first responders to the Midtown shooting, rushing into the building to contain the gunman and prevent further bloodshed – but found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  Disbanding the SRG — the unit that responds to mass shootings — is not just reckless, it’s indefensible.

As a political sop, Mamdani praised the work of the police responders in the recent mass shooting while simultaneously vowing to dismantle the very teams that make those responses possible.  Hypocrisy of the first magnitude.

Mamdani has recycled the left’s evergreen call for a ban on so-called assault rifles.  It’s a simplistic solution to a complex problem, and it ignores the reality that criminals do not follow gun laws. The focus on banning assault weapons may play well with progressive voters, but it does little to address the root causes of gun violence or the need for effective policing. He did not mention mental health as the cause – which was apparent in the recent shooting.  Myopically focusing only on the gun has never solved the problem – and never will.

In trying to pivot away from his radical past, Mamdani has only highlighted the inconsistencies in his platform. His vague reassurances about working with police ring hollow when paired with his concrete plans to strip them of authority, funding, and operational capacity. His campaign is built on a foundation of mythical ideological purity that has no relevance in the real world.

If Mamdani were to win and impose his proposals as stated over many years, New York City would become uninhabitable for citizens who want a safe and economically vibrant place to work and live.

(By the way … I have a personal reason why I hope the people of New York are smart enough to reject this charismatic snake oil salesman.  Southern Florida – where I live – is already suffering from the migration of folks leaving Democrat-run cities and states by the droves.  For us at the tip of the Florida peninsula, that means higher housing costs, more traffic, crowded restaurants, overpopulated schools, etc.  But I digress.)

The mass shooting in New York City was a moment of reckoning. Mamdani’s failure to offer a coherent, credible plan for public safety—one that respects the role of law enforcement while addressing systemic issues—should concern every voter in the Big Apple.  And if he is the face of the new Democratic Party, it should concern every voter in the nation.

So, there ‘tis.

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