Mamdani unveils sweeping NYPD use-of-force review, but stops short of fulfilling key campaign promises
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the launch of an internal review of the New York Police Department’s use of force on Monday, but the initiative falls short of fulfilling several of his campaign promises, including pledges to disband a controversial police unit and eliminate a database of suspected gang members.
"When the government uses force against a New Yorker, the standard for accountability must be at its highest," Mamdani said in a press release. "Every New Yorker deserves to know that force will be used lawfully, carefully and only when necessary."
More than nine months after taking office, Mamdani has yet to fulfill several campaign pledges, including disbanding the NYPD's Strategic Response Group, eliminating its database of suspected gang members and shifting police resources away from low-level offenses.
The review comes after the May 2026 retirement of one of the officers involved in the 2024 shooting of 19-year-old Win Rozario — a development that came before any disciplinary trial could take place.
Video footage of the confrontation, captured in March 2024, shows officers responding to a house call, placed by Rozario himself. An altercation ensued when Rozario, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, reacted adversely to the police presence, prompting the police to use Tasers on him. Unsubdued, Rozario then grabbed a pair of scissors and advanced on officers, who shot him at close range.
New York Attorney General Letitia James' office declined to bring criminal charges against the officers in December 2025, concluding that prosecutors could not disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that their use of deadly force was justified under state law.
The mayor framed his initiative as a way to strengthen and improve accountability.
Mamdani’s initiative comes with an additional $2.6 million in funding for the Office of Inspector General for the NYPD. Additionally, the NYPD will also notify state authorities when officers facing disciplinary charges retire, allowing the state to consider decertification and helping prevent those officers from avoiding scrutiny by joining another law enforcement agency.
Those changes will accompany a use-of-force review which, according to Mamdani, is the first of its kind in over a decade and will include a "robust community engagement process."
"We have an obligation to Win’s family and to every New Yorker who calls for help in a moment of crisis. This review is about making sure our policies reflect that responsibility," Mamdani said.
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Notably, the proposed adjustments fall short of campaign promises that Mamdani made to eliminate certain policing activity.
In particular, Mamdani called for an end to NYPD arrests on charges of lower–level crimes like public urination and open container violations, noting that such activity was making it harder for officers to tackle violent crimes.
"The fact that every year we ask them to take on additional responsibilities – we are making it more and more difficult for them to respond to the very responsibilities that drew them to the job in the first place," Mamdani said last fall.
During his tenure, public urination summonses have gone up, climbing 18%, according to recent reporting.
Mamdani also promised to end a database of suspected gang members. He also demanded an end to the Strategic Response Group (SRG), a policing task force that had received public attention for aggressive tactics in subduing protests.
"As Mayor, I will disband the SRG, which has cost taxpayers millions in lawsuit settlements + brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their First Amendment rights," Mamdani said in a post to X shortly after announcing his bid for mayor.
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In addition to keeping those elements in place, Mamdani also retained Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was appointed by Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams.
Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether his police reform plans have taken a different path than the one he originally outlined before taking office.