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How experts say Zohran Mamdani can earn the NYPD's trust
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 15, 2025
Modified Oct 15, 2025
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Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 15, 2025
Modified Oct 15, 2025
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A productive relationship with the NYPD is still within mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s reach, law enforcement experts and former NYPD officers and executives from across the political spectrum told Gothamist, rejecting the notion that Mamdani has irreparably alienated the force.
For months, Mamdani’s critics and opponents have seized on his prior statements calling for a reduction in NYPD officers and labeling the department as “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety,” even though he has since walked back all those remarks.
On Wednesday, Mamdani publicly apologized for his past language during a Fox News interview, saying he wants to work with officers if elected.
While experts acknowledged that many officers will view Mamdani skeptically, they added that he could make inroads in the department by appointing a competent commissioner, listening to officers’ needs and overhauling responses to emergency mental health calls.
Mamdani’s relationship with the NYPD will be critical to safety in the city and his success in office. New York City voters consistently rank public safety as a top issue in polls, and discontent or upheaval in the department could signal dysfunction in a key city agency. The stakes are even higher as President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the National Guard and federal law enforcement officers to New York City, as he has done in other cities, including Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.
Not a monolith
Although Mamdani's critics and opponents have warned that his election could spur a mass exodus of NYPD officers, experts and former department executives said they expect a more mixed response.
It will take work to overcome public skepticism over Mamdani's past statements about the department, according to Rodney Harrison, who served as chief of department and chief of detectives under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. Harrison has publicly expressed support for some of Mamdani’s public safety proposals.
“It's going to be a little bit of an uphill battle,” Harrison said.
“He could definitely rebound from it,” he added. “But his actions have to be shown, and some of the actions have to be, you know, talking about the heroic work that the men and women of law enforcement do on a regular basis.”
Liz Glazer, a former federal prosecutor and head of the office of criminal justice under de Blasio, said the notion that there is an inherent friction between officers and Mamdani is overblown.
“ The police department is not a monolith,” Glazer said. “It's an incredibly diverse department, which is now majority-minority … it really reflects the diversity of the city.”
Sal Greco, a conservative former NYPD officer who now hosts a podcast about the department, also cast doubt on the possibility of a mass exodus of NYPD officers if Mamdani is elected.
“That's never happened before,” Greco said in an interview. “ I think if you took a poll, I don't think they would want Mamdani to be the mayor. I think they want someone who's pro-law enforcement, like Curtis Sliwa. But they'll just deal with whoever is the mayor. It's not going to make or break their career.”
Effective leadership
The experts and former officers who spoke to Gothamist said if Mamdani is elected, his choice for commissioner will be crucial in maintaining a strong relationship with the department.
If elected, Mamdani will inherit a department that for years was beset by allegations of corruption and cronyism during the administration of Mayor Eric Adams, and which has begun to rebound under Commissioner Jessica Tisch's leadership.
The allegations of corruption and cronyism have worsened morale in the department, Glazer said.
“It's not as if it's a worker's paradise right now,” Glazer said of the NYPD. “Part of that has to do with the fact that the department was run on a friends and family plan for many years under Adams.”
“There is nothing more demoralizing to cops who want to do a good job, which is pretty much the whole department, than to see those kinds of shenanigans take place,” she added.
In recent years, the department has struggled with retaining police officers for a host of reasons, including long hours and the offer of better pay at nearby departments. The stress has also weighed on police officers, according to the union that represents rank-and-file cops.
“Our members are exhausted from chronic understaffing, frustrated by the dysfunction in our justice system and burned out by a climate of second-guessing and demonization,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement.
“Fixing these issues will require sustained engagement with police officers and a willingness to stand up to the extremists who want to abolish our entire profession. That is our priority, and it will remain our priority no matter who is in City Hall,” he added.
Harrison said acknowledging these challenges is important to officers.
“The difficulty in being a cop in the city is, unfortunately, seeing people commit violent crimes over and over again. The recidivism is a big issue,” he said.
According to numbers compiled by Vital City, recidivism has increased in the city during the Adams administration, and has nearly doubled for violent crimes on the subway.
He added that police officers want to hear from politicians that people who commit violent crimes are being held accountable.
Department of Community Safety
Months ago, Mamdani met with members of the NYPD in a meeting set up by Shamsul Haque, a former lieutenant commander who was initially skeptical of Mamdani but has since endorsed him.
Haque told Gothamist that Mamdani won him over partly because of his plan for a Department of Community Safety. If Mamdani can execute it, the plan would further limit the number of 911 calls police officers respond to for homelessness and mental health emergencies. Many of those calls would instead be assigned to mental health professionals and clinicians, instead of police officers, according to his campaign.
Both Haque and Harrison said the overhaul of policies could face opposition at first, as is usually the case. Haque pointed to the rollout of body-worn cameras for officers during the de Blasio administration, which officers initially viewed skeptically, but now support.
“ Any time you put a new procedure in place, there’s always a level of concern over how is it going to work,” Harrison said.
But both added that the idea could become more popular among police officers if they’re responsible for fewer mental health calls.
“This is a management innovation from the side of Mamdani to bring NYPD law enforcement and mental health professionals to the 21st century. And I think that is the right approach,” Haque said. “They will eventually realize it's a good program. And they will accept it.”
This story has been updated with new information.
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Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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