Early test of mayor’s reform commitments as NYPD chief resists changes candidate Mamdani campaigned against
Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces an early test of his ability to implement campaign promises on criminal justice as Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch continues enforcing policies that the candidate explicitly opposed. The dynamic between the mayor and his retained police commissioner highlights the structural challenges in translating campaign rhetoric into actual police reform during the early weeks of his administration.
The Campaign Promises on Police Reform
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani ran explicitly on ending stop-and-frisk practices, eliminating the NYPD’s database of alleged gang affiliations, dismantling the controversial Special Response Group (SRG), and creating a Department of Community Safety to handle mental health crises and quality-of-life issues through civilian response teams. He criticized his predecessor’s approach of empowering police to conduct aggressive enforcement and argued that public safety requires addressing root causes of crime through poverty reduction, housing stability, and community health initiatives. Mamdani positioned himself as a criminal justice reformer willing to challenge police culture and union opposition to hold officers accountable for misconduct. These campaign positions resonated with progressive voters who supported his election.
The Tisch Decision and Early Signals
Two weeks after winning the mayoral election, Mamdani announced that Jessica Tisch would continue as Police Commissioner, a decision that surprised criminal justice advocates who expected the new administration to install a police leader more aligned with reform goals. Tisch, who rose to prominence in the Bloomberg and Adams administrations, has championed aggressive enforcement strategies including expansion of stop-and-frisk, quality-of-life enforcement, and the gang database system. In announcing the decision, Mamdani praised Tisch’s efforts to “root out corruption” among NYPD officers but did not address her enforcement philosophy.
Tisch’s Record on Enforcement and Discipline
Tisch’s tenure has been marked by focus on low-level offense enforcement and “broken windows” policing approaches that prioritize visible quality-of-life issues. Her strategy has generated increases in stop-and-frisk activities, summons issuance, and police interactions with homeless individuals and people engaged in visible drug use. Research indicates that this approach disproportionately impacts communities of color and individuals experiencing poverty. However, Tisch has also demonstrated willingness to discipline officers for misconduct, albeit within constraints imposed by police unions and civil service protections. For analysis of police commissioner tenure and reform approaches, see the Urban Institute, which has published research on police leadership and accountability.
The Bicycle Summons Contradiction
One early incident crystallized the tension between Mamdani’s campaign promises and Tisch’s enforcement priorities. Under the prior administration, the NYPD began issuing criminal summons to cyclists, a practice that Mamdani specifically criticized during his campaign. He stated “I do not believe the police should be the ones to deal with the failures of these app companies” in reference to delivery platform operations that incentivize fast cycling and aggressive delivery practices. Yet weeks after taking office, when journalists asked Mamdani whether the NYPD continued issuing criminal summons to cyclists, the mayor declined to provide a direct answer, saying only that “these are part of the conversations that we’re having.” The vague response signaled that the bicycle summons policy might not be a priority for change despite being an explicit campaign target.
Stop-and-Frisk Surge and Mayor Silence
As data revealed that stop-and-frisk activities surged to their highest levels since 2014 under the prior administration, with 25,386 stops conducted in 2024, advocacy groups looked to Mamdani to signal his intention to reduce these practices. Instead, when asked directly about the continued stop-and-frisk surge, the mayor’s office referred journalists to the NYPD’s press office. The lack of direct mayoral engagement on a central campaign issue generated frustration among criminal justice advocates and raised questions about whether Mamdani intended to translate campaign rhetoric into actual reform.
Police Union Opposition and Political Risk
Police unions have a documented history of retaliating against elected officials who challenge their interests or police practices. The Detective Endowment Association has made clear that it intends to “make sure elected officials wake up to the power of our uniforms.” In 1992, police unions organized a massive demonstration at City Hall opposing Mayor Dinkins’ proposal to remove police from civilian review board decisions. In 2014, police officers turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio at police funerals after he publicly discussed conversations with his Black son about police interactions. These precedents suggest that Mamdani faces real political risk in attempting police reform, particularly given that he is the first openly socialist mayor of the city and already faces opposition from conservative politicians.
The Mental Health Crisis Response Challenge
When two fatal NYPD shootings in January 2026 raised questions about Mamdani’s proposed Department of Community Safety, the mayor declined to speculate whether civilian mental health workers could have prevented the incidents. Instead, he stated that while the situations were tragic, he would not “engage in hypotheticals” and instead emphasized that the city receives over 200,000 mental health calls annually that require thoughtful response. The measured language reflected political caution rather than the forceful advocacy for alternative approaches that characterized his campaign.
The Gang Database and Surveillance Systems
Mamdani campaigned on eliminating the NYPD gang database, which civil rights advocates argue has been used to justify harassment of young people of color and provided to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in some cases. However, weeks into his administration, he has made no public statements about the gang database or efforts to eliminate it. Similarly, his campaign call to dismantle the SRG has been followed by silence. These silences suggest that either Mamdani has deprioritized these reforms or is facing internal pressure not to challenge police operations while establishing his administration. For documentation of gang database harms, see the Brooklyn Defender Services, which has published detailed reports on database accuracy and impact.
The Road Ahead for Police Reform
The early weeks of the Mamdani administration suggest a pattern in which campaign-era promises about police reform are being shelved or deprioritized in favor of working relationships with existing police leadership. Whether this reflects genuine abandonment of reform goals or merely a strategic patience waiting for the right political moment remains uncertain. What is clear is that criminal justice advocates and communities of color who were energized by Mamdani’s campaign rhetoric now face questions about whether the mayor intends to make good on his promises or whether political constraints and police union opposition will prevent meaningful reform. The next months will provide clarity about whether Mamdani can translate campaign promises into actual policy change or whether his election represented a symbolic victory disconnected from actual power to transform police practices.
