NYPD’s Tisch must heed Mamdani’s lead

No post-election decision by Mayor Mamdani has garnered more attention than Jessica Tisch’s retention as police commissioner. She served with a level of honesty and professionalism that was lacking in her recent predecessors, but she is the legacy of an administration whose response to the complex needs of our city was too often cops, cops, and more cops.

Tisch now has the opportunity to embrace a new vision for public safety presented by the new mayor.

During his campaign, Mamdani rented the commissioner charged with rooting out corruption in the upper echelons of the NYPD. Although the commissioner deserves credit for expelling some unscrupulous actors from her senior ranks, this is far from enough to remedy the situation. the long-standing problem of misconduct by department officers.

For decades, the New York Police Department has proven that it cannot police itself. Mountains of data shows that NYPD commissioners systematically ignored disciplinary recommendations from the Civilian Complaint Review Board, or CCRB, the independent agency responsible for investigating professional misconduct.

During the election campaign, Mamdani said he wanted to give the final word on officer discipline to the CCRB, rather than leaving it to the commissioner. Tisch, who too often blocked the discipline recommended by the CCRB for its agents, would have demanded she has the last word when she agrees to stay, and the mayor has since softened his position.

Such a change would require state legislation, but the mayor and commissioner should at least commit to following the CCRB’s recommendations, fully staff the board, and ensure that the NYPD cooperates with CCRB investigations.

While accountability is essential, we also know that the best way to prevent police abuse is to minimize interactions with police.

Mamdani’s proposed creation of a Department of Community Safety is a good start. It would shift the NYPD’s responsibility for things the police aren’t best suited to handle, like responding to mental health issues and connecting the homeless to permanent housing. In most cases, New Yorkers could get the help they need without hostile police interaction, or worse.

Another important place to start, especially in an era of increased political activism and organizing, is policing protests.

In the electoral campaign, Mamdani joined calls from the New York Civil Liberties Union and our partners to disband the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a violent rapid response unit that constantly threatened, attacked and arrested demonstrators and violated their right of expression. Tisch said the unit was crucial for maintaining order, but it is comforting that yesterday the mayor reiterated his goal of closing it.

As part of a 2023 legal settlement, we and our partners won crucial reforms to how the NYPD can handle protesters. These guarantees have recently started to come into force and will make an important difference, but the SSR and its escalation and aggression stay. The mayor and commissioner should support the CURB Act, which would significantly curb unity 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.

Error-prone database includes thousands of people — 99% including black and Latino men and boys – who have never been convicted of anything. The police can add you based on simple suspicion or an emojibut there is no easy way to make your name disappear. During this time, you face increased risk of surveillance and profiling.

Tisch called the database useful tool, while Mamdani rightly proposed by deleting it.

As an MP, Mamdani also presented legislation prohibiting harmful surveillance of law enforcement. But the commissioner is known for expanding the NYPD’s surveillance infrastructure.

She was a chief in the department’s Domain Awareness System, which compiles data from tens of thousands of cameras, license plate readers and other technology. As the federal government’s excesses and Trump’s cruel deportation agenda intensify, there are serious concerns that this surveillance infrastructure could become a tool of the Trump regime through information-sharing agreements like New York’s. Joint Working Groups on Terrorism.

The mayor and commissioner must opt ​​out of these agreements as well as any data sharing agreements that pass our personal information to the Trump regime. After all, the commissioner has shown that she recognizes Trump’s dangerous designs. She rightly criticized his threat to send the National Guard to occupy and harass our city.

It’s a new day. Under the leadership of Mayor Adams, the New York Police Department intensification of arrests for minor and serious offenses pedestrian And vehicle checks and searches, while the police use of force And misconduct complaints soared towards the sky.

Mamdani’s election shows that New Yorkers are hungry for a new approach. The mayor and commissioner should come together to make this happen.

Lieberman is the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.