New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani mentioned Friday he stays dedicated to disbanding the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a specialised unit critics say is just too militaristic in relation to dealing with mass protests, however one its supporters say is important to the 5 boroughs’ counter-terrorism operations.
An announcement concerning the controversial unit is anticipated quickly, Mamdani mentioned at an unrelated press convention. Media stories point out the event might come any day.
Mamdani says he does not imagine terrorism duties and responses to First Modification-related incidents ought to fall below one unit. The mayor had made disbanding the group a key promise of his 2025 mayoral marketing campaign.
In line with Politico, the administration could also be contemplating a kind of civilian drive to handle de-escalation in protest conditions. Mamdani did not immediately reply Friday to questions on what may substitute the SRG, and he did not elaborate on how terrorism-related responses could be affected.
Simply final 12 months, the town confronted such a risk when a gunman stormed right into a Park Avenue workplace constructing, the place his alleged goal, the NFL, was headquartered. He killed 4 individuals earlier than taking his personal life.
It was the town’s deadliest mass taking pictures since 2020.
“I’ve made very clear that the main target of the conversations which have taken place since being in workplace has been to do that in a means that retains New Yorkers protected and protects their First Modification rights,” Mamdani mentioned at an unrelated press convention Friday.
According to the NYPD, the SRG “responds to citywide mobilizations, civil problems, and main occasions with extremely skilled personnel and specialised tools. They’re additionally deployed to areas requiring an elevated police presence resulting from elevated crime or different circumstances.”
The SRG has been a polarizing entity inside the metropolis’s police drive — going through accusations of being too violent and too militaristic, particularly in relation to crowd management throughout protests. In 2020, they had been accused of unlawfully detaining over 100 demonstrators in the course of the George Floyd protests.
Three years later, a authorized settlement was introduced in 2023, partially as reparations tied to those detentions. That settlement now governs how and when the NYPD deploys the SRG, although Mamdani has given NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch important latitude in relation to these operations.
Additionally that 12 months, the Metropolis Council’s Public Security Committee held a listening to concerning the Strategic Response Group. Unit representatives did not attend “resulting from ongoing litigation,” the NYPD mentioned on the time.
It submitted written testimony as a substitute that mentioned, partially, that the “SRG is comprised of extremely skilled, well-vetted {and professional} law enforcement officials.”
“These officers are known as upon in among the most aggravating, harmful and chaotic conditions, such because the protests and riots that occurred in the course of the summer time of 2020,” that written testimony assertion mentioned.
