Zohran Mamdani Railed Against NYPD — Argued Police Shouldn’t Respond to Domestic Violence Calls
AP Photo/Heather Khalifa
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee to serve as the next mayor of New York City, railed against the NYPD during a podcast appearance back in 2020, arguing that it “functions, in many ways, to punish poor Black and Brown people” and that police shouldn’t be sent to handle domestic violence calls.
Mamdani’s comments, which were made on the Immigrantly podcast in July 2020, were first reported on by The Washington Free Beacon’s Jon Levine.
“Police do not create safety. For many, many people across this city and this state, police actually create and amplify violence. And it is very important to speak about that reality that many people have because it pushes up against the conventional understanding of police who are seen to be people who come to resolve violence,” submitted Mamdani at the time.
He continued:
But, I mean, you just look at the history of the NYPD, and you see that we have invested in a system that functions, in many ways, to punish poor Black and Brown people across this city, and across this state, and frankly across this country. And there are so many responsibilities we have given to police, that frankly should have nothing to do with their departments. A homeless person is on a train, they do not need a stranger with a gun to come and resolve that situation. If, you know, if somebody is jaywalking, if somebody is surviving, you know, going through domestic violence, there are so many different, different situations that would be far better handled by people trained to deal with those specific situations as opposed to an individual with a gun.
A policy memo on Mamdani’s campaign website calls for having trained crisis responders — rather than the police — respond to 911 calls related to mental health. His campaign did not respond to the Free Beacon’s inquires about whether he still believes the police have no role in responding to situations concerning domestic violence.
