Among the post-election decisions of Mayor Mamdani, none has sparked more debate than his choice to retain Jessica Tisch as the police commissioner. Tisch has stood out for her integrity and professionalism, contrasting sharply with her predecessors. However, she was part of an administration that often resorted to an overwhelming police presence in addressing the city’s multifaceted issues.
Now, Tisch faces an opportunity to align with the new public safety vision that Mayor Mamdani has articulated. Throughout his campaign, Mamdani expressed admiration for Tisch’s efforts in eliminating corruption at the upper echelons of the NYPD. While her actions in removing certain unethical figures are commendable, they fall short of tackling the deeply entrenched issues of officer misconduct within the department.
The NYPD’s history of self-regulation has been fraught with challenges. Decades of evidence highlight a troubling pattern where NYPD commissioners frequently ignored the disciplinary recommendations set forth by the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), an independent body tasked with investigating police misconduct.
Mamdani, during his campaign, advocated for the CCRB to have the authority over officer discipline, a power traditionally held by the commissioner. Tisch has reportedly resisted this shift, having previously blocked CCRB’s disciplinary suggestions on numerous occasions. In agreeing to continue her role, she is said to have insisted on retaining final judgment, prompting the mayor to soften his original position.
While any significant change in disciplinary authority would necessitate state legislation, the mayor and commissioner can still take meaningful steps. They should pledge to honor CCRB recommendations, ensure the board is fully staffed, and guarantee the NYPD’s full cooperation with CCRB investigations. This commitment would mark a significant move towards restoring public trust and accountability within the department.
Any such change would require state legislation, but the mayor and commissioner should at least commit to follow CCRB recommendations, fully staff the board, and ensure the NYPD cooperates with CCRB investigations.
While accountability is critical, we also know the best way to prevent police abuse is to minimize police interactions.
Mamdani’s proposed creation of a Department of Community Safety is a good start. This would shift responsibility from the NYPD for things police aren’t best suited to manage, like responding to mental health struggles and connecting homeless people with permanent housing. In most cases, New Yorkers could get needed help without a hostile police interaction, or worse.
Another important place to start, especially in an age of heightened political activism and organizing, is the policing of protest.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani joined calls by the New York Civil Liberties Union and our partners to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a violent rapid-response unit that has consistently threatened, attacked, and arrested protesters and undermined their speech rights. Tisch has said the unit is crucial for maintaining order, but it’s heartening that yesterday the mayor reiterated his goal to shut it down.
As part of a 2023 legal settlement, we and partners won critical reforms to the way the NYPD can handle protesters. These safeguards recently began to take effect and will make an important difference — but the SRG and its escalation and aggression remain. The mayor and commissioner should support the CURB Act, which would significantly rein in the unit and end its deployment at protests.
The commissioner should also follow the mayor’s lead when it comes to the department’s massive gang database.
The error-prone database includes thousands of people — 99% of whom are Black and Latino men and boys — who have never been convicted of anything. Police can add you based on little more than a hunch or an emoji, but there’s no easy way to get your name off. All the while you face a heightened risk of surveillance and profiling.
Tisch has called the database a useful tool, while Mamdani has rightly proposed deleting it.
As an assemblyman, Mamdani also introduced legislation to prohibit harmful law enforcement surveillance. But the commissioner is known for expanding the NYPD’s surveillance infrastructure.
She was a leader in the department’s Domain Awareness System, which compiles data from tens of thousands of cameras, license plate readers, and other technologies. As federal overreach and Trump’s cruel deportation agenda ramp up, there are serious concerns this surveillance infrastructure could become a tool of the Trump regime through info-sharing agreements like New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces.
The mayor and commissioner need to pull out of these and any data sharing agreements that give our personal info to the Trump regime. After all, the commissioner has shown she recognizes Trump’s dangerous designs. She rightly slammed his threat to send the National Guard to occupy and harass our city.
It’s a new day. Under Mayor Adams, the NYPD ramped up arrests for minor offenses and increased pedestrian and vehicle stops and searches, while police uses of force and misconduct complaints lurched skyward.
Mamdani’s election shows New Yorkers are eager for a new approach. The mayor and commissioner should come together to deliver on it.
Lieberman is the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
