OPINION:
A politically charged reallocation of public safety resources that risks weakening law enforcement, undermining public trust and leaving New Yorkers in high-crime areas vulnerable is not a plan for peace.
Yet that’s exactly what New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has in mind for his Department of Community Safety. His plan for America’s most prominent city shifts priorities away from crime prevention and public safety and toward a form of social engineering.
Mr. Mamdani’s “safety” proposal strips funds from true law enforcement and redirects jurisdiction to the Department of Community Safety. The New York Police Department is already underfunded and understaffed. Apparently, Mr. Mamdani would rather gamble with residents’ lives than implement efficient solutions.
His plan emphasizes community-based safety initiatives, which critics argue lack the necessary authority and effectiveness to address serious crime. Some of his proposals include pouring more money into mental health education, rehabilitative programs and Department of Community Safety crisis response teams.
Though investments in mental health services are important, they cannot come at the expense of gutting the police force. Rather than invest in police-oriented crime prevention initiatives or uphold the rule of law through stricter sentencing, Mr. Mamdani wants to treat New Yorkers as lab rats in his woke social experiment.
Public safety is a policy issue that should concern all New Yorkers and be a thoughtful focus of their politicians. In 2024, more than 2,000 subway crimes occurred in the city, a 23% increase in just five years. According to NYPD statistics, a total of 123,890 offenses were committed in the seven major felony categories.
These are not just petty crimes. They include murder, rape, robbery, burglary, assault and grand larceny. New Yorkers want and deserve to feel safe, and Mr. Mamdani’s “world salad” safety plan is not fooling anyone.
The mayor-elect has proposed deploying mental health outreach workers, not police, in 100 subway stations. These workers cannot address or deter crime as well as police can because they are not qualified to handle aggressive criminals, make arrests or respond to violent situations.
Mr. Mamdani has also supported wiping out the enforcement of misdemeanor offenses (including sexual misconduct, third-degree assault, drug possession and prostitution), as well as pressuring district attorneys to underprosecute certain cases. His policies will certainly lead to a spike in criminality and chaos in the city.
Beyond adding to crime — which stunts economic growth, deters business investment and creates massive costs to infrastructure and health care — these plans will add to mounting city fiscal deficits. This plan will cost $1.1 billion, with $605 million being redistributed away from other programs, likely traditional law enforcement, and the other $455 million being raised through corporate and income tax increases.
Although Mr. Mamdani pivoted to publicly acknowledge that police are necessary, backtracking from earlier social media posts that called to “defund the police,” his plans would still undercut the NYPD and leave New York’s first responders and residents in a dangerous place.
After Iryna Zarutska’s brutal murder in Charlotte, North Carolina, on public transit, people are looking over their shoulders now more than ever. Weakening the police force will only increase crime and heighten the dangers of riding public transportation for those who need it most.
In March 2024, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard into New York City subways to prevent violence and protect riders. Subway crime dropped 23.5% after their presence, so additional NYPD officers were deployed. By April, transit crime was down 23%, and by July, the crime rate fell 44% from the same week in 2023.
This isn’t rocket science. More police presence, not less, is a proven method that effectively deters criminal behavior and protects the innocent. Conversely, when budget cuts took effect after the 2020 “defund the police” movement, New York City experienced a significant increase in violent crime, with a 47% increase in homicide and 97% increase in shooting incidents.
Replacing trained law enforcement officers with unarmed “community safety” is a dangerous proposition for New Yorkers, especially as more crime is popping up across the nation in blue cities.
Mr. Mamdani’s Department of Community Safety is a drastic shift away from traditionally effective public safety methods in favor of vague, woke and unarmed community outreach. By defanging the NYPD and intentionally lowering the enforcement rate of misdemeanor offenses, criminals will be emboldened, safety will decline, and violence will dominate an already high-crime city.
A strong, well-funded police force and fair and impartial administration of the law are critical components in maintaining public safety for all New Yorkers.
• Nicole Huyer is a senior research associate in the Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation. Mary Elizabeth Miller is a member of Heritage’s Young Leaders Program.
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