New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani orders department-wide review of NYPD use of force policies

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN

New York (CNN) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered a comprehensive review of the New York Police Department’s use-of-force policies, his office announced Monday.

The review – the first of its kind in about a decade – comes as Mamdani faces increasing pressure from his base, who say he has not done enough to reform public safety and the criminal justice system, both pledges he made when he ran for mayor last year.

The review is expected to be completed in the coming months and will engage community groups during the process.

Mamdani also announced several reforms aimed at increasing accountability when police officers are accused of misconduct. The proposed reforms include a change which would make it easier to complete the disciplinary process before an officer retires from the force.

The change is in response to the case of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old Queens man, who was shot five times and killed while experiencing a mental health crisis in his home in March 2024.

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation declined to pursue criminal charges against the officers.

But last year, the Civilian Complaint Review Board voted to substantiate claims that officers, Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco used excessive force when they fatally shot Rosario. The officers reported Rozario had lunged at them with a pair of scissors.

In August, the CCRB was told Alongi retired in May, preventing the case against him from continuing. The case against Cianfrocco is expected to proceed as planned, according to a spokesperson for the CCRB.

In response to Alongi’s case, Mamdani ordered changes to the disciplinary process to help resolve cases before officers retire and to formalize referrals for decertification when officers retire with pending charges to prevent them from being rehired by other New York law enforcement agencies.

“When the government uses force against a New Yorker, the standard for accountability must be at its highest. Every New Yorker deserves to know that force will be used lawfully, carefully and only when necessary,” Mamdani said in a statement. “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, that our officers have the guidance and training they need and that New Yorkers and their families can trust their city will treat them with care and dignity.”

Some supporters of Mamdani, including the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, have called on him to fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch following the shooting of a Dominican immigrant by federal officers in the Bronx on Thursday.

Although the NYPD was not involved in the operation, violent skirmishes with protestors broke out in the aftermath, which drew sharp criticism of the NYPD.

Mamdani has referred to DSA as his “political home.” But members of the chapter, including Democratic Congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier – an ally of the mayor – have been critical of Tisch and the NYPD for what they describe as collaboration between federal immigration agents and police officers in response to protests following last week’s shooting.

Patrick Hendry, president of the New York City Patrolmen’s Association, which represents NYPD rank-and-file officers issued a statement Monday in opposition to the use-of-force review.

“There should be no review of the NYPD’s use-of-force policies without a corresponding review of the blatantly biased and unjust way those policies are interpreted by the Civilian Complaint Review Board,” Hendry said. “The mayor’s radical base wants a wholesale dismantling of the NYPD, and it’s clear this announcement is an attempt to appease them.”

On Monday, Mamdani also announced an increase in funding for the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, which will help increase staffing. And he ordered changes to ensure timely reporting of police-involved deaths to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. He also plans to standardize the release of information and final reports to families of those killed or seriously injured, following a critical incident.

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