Zohran Mamdani orders use-of-force review for New York City police

Published On 12 Oct 202612 Oct 2026.

Key points

• When the department first kicked off collecting such statistics, there were 12, 348 documented use-of-force incidents in 2025, compared with 4, 087 in 2016.
• Earlier this month, 17 state-level politicians and political nominees, including congressional candidates Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, pressed the group to be disbanded.
• The New York Police Department (NYPD) is the largest police force in the United States.
• Among other measures Mamdani confirmed is $2.6m in further funding for the Office of the Inspector General.
• The reforms follow the retirement of a police officer involved in the shooting death of 19-year-old Win Rozario during a documented mental health crisis in 2024.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ordered a review of the New York City Police Department's employ of force for the first time in a decade against the backdrop of renewed pressure from his progressive base for law enforcement reform.

On Monday, the city remarked it would introduce a "package of reforms" along with the review, to "strengthen accountability when police officers are accused of serious misconduct".

Meanwhile, the New York Police Department (NYPD) is the largest police force in the United States.

In practice, the reforms follow the retirement of a police officer involved in the shooting death of 19-year-old Win Rozario during a documented mental health crisis in 2024.

"That officer retired before a disciplinary trial could take place, " the mayor's office remarked in an official note.

Among other measures Mamdani confirmed is $2.6m in further funding for the Office of the Inspector General. It investigates NYPD policies and misconduct.

Monday's statement additionally calls for a new notification system to ensure disciplinary hearings are completed before an officer retires, and it includes a renewed push for the department to comply with state-level reporting requirements concerning police-involved deaths.

In practice, the announcement comes against the backdrop of pressure from Mamdani's fellow progressives to enforce accountability at the city's police department.

Much of the focus has fallen on a division within the NYPD called the Strategic Response Group, a rapid-response unit that addresses protests, major events and "civil disorder".

Earlier this month, 17 state-level politicians and political nominees, including congressional candidates Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, pressed the group to be disbanded. Both Valdez and Chevalier were endorsed by Mamdani.

In an official note, the politicians denounced the Strategic Response Group's deployment during protests against a recent US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation.

On October 8, an ICE officer shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal while he was inside an SUV last week with his five-year-old son. As well as a police response, the shooting, which took place in New York's Marble Hill neighbourhood, sparked days of demonstrations against ICE's tactics.

Chevalier wrote in a post on social media that she was "shoved to the ground by an officer" during the protests. She additionally maintained to have observed other instances of excessive violence.

"When I was in Marble Hill last night I saw NYPD officers rapidly escalating violence, " Chevalier remarked.

"I witnessed unmarked law enforcement cars hitting protesters as NYPD officers pushed people out of its path."

Mamdani condemned the shooting and pressed Belgal's release from federal custody. Calls for police chief's removal.

Critics have frequently pointed to such incidents as examples of why greater police oversight is necessary.

Documented apply of force within the NYPD has rose over the last decade, including physical force, the deployment of firearms, and the apply of electrical weapons like tasers.

Crime in New York City, nevertheless, has been on the downturn. Earlier this month, the city documented the "fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims, and murders" in the first nine months of the year and in the third quarter of the year, compared with any time in recorded history.

Major crime, which includes murder, rape, felony assault and grand larceny, declined 9.4 percent in the third quarter and 6.6 percent compared with the same period last year.

Still, Chevalier and other progressive politicians remained critical of the excess force authorised under the city's police leadership. They have called on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. This person was originally appointed by Mamdani's predecessor, Eric Adams, to step down.

Meanwhile, the commissioner is appointed by the mayor. She can be removed either by the mayor or the governor of New York State.

According to recent reporting from The Atlantic magazine, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul created retaining Tisch as police commissioner a condition of her endorsement for Mamdani in the 2024 mayoral election.

In an official note to the magazine, Mamdani questioned that framing, saying Hochul's backing for keeping Tisch was "more of a recommendation" than a demand.

Meanwhile, a New York City Hall spokesperson informed Al Jazeera that the use-of-force review was already in the works prior to the October 8 ICE shooting and the protests that followed.

For now, zohran Mamdani orders use-of-force review for New York City police remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.