Mamdani orders first NYPD use-of-force review in a decade, bolsters oversight

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday announced what City Hall called the first comprehensive review of the NYPD's use-of-force policies in a decade, along with steps meant to keep officers facing serious misconduct charges from leaving the force before discipline is finished.

What the review covers

The review will run over the coming months and include a community engagement process, according to the mayor's office, as reported by Gothamist, THE CITY, ABC7 New York and NBC New York. City Hall said it will examine how use-of-force policies are applied and whether changes are needed, including in encounters with people in mental health crisis.

"When the government uses force against a New Yorker, the standard for accountability must be at its highest," Mamdani said in a statement carried by those outlets. "Every New Yorker deserves to know that force will be used lawfully, carefully and only when necessary."

Accountability changes

Beyond the policy review, the administration said it would:

• Invest an additional $2.6 million in the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD so the office can rebuild staffing, according to City Hall.
• Use a notification system, implemented in August but newly announced, intended to finish disciplinary cases before an officer retires, City & State and ABC7 reported.
• Formalize notices to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services when officers retire while facing charges, aimed at blocking a move to another New York law enforcement job.
• Standardize how the NYPD shares information after critical incidents, including releasing Force Investigation Division final reports to families of people killed or seriously hurt by police.

Win Rozario and the timing

The package follows the case of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old fatally shot by NYPD officers during a 2024 mental health crisis in Queens. Rozario's family said last week that Officer Salvatore Alongi had been allowed to retire with a disability pension before a Civilian Complaint Review Board disciplinary trial, and that the NYPD had failed to notify the CCRB, THE CITY and NBC New York reported. Commissioner Jessica Tisch apologized for that "human error."

A City Hall spokesperson told NBC New York the accountability measures had already been planned — and the NYPD told about the use-of-force review — before the Marble Hill ICE shooting and the protests that followed. Mamdani has said he has no plans to remove Tisch, ABC7 reported, even as some on the left have urged him to fire her and to dismantle the Strategic Response Group.

The NYPD declined to comment to NBC New York beyond referring questions to City Hall. The police union called the announcement a political gesture, according to NBC New York.