In a turn from his push for deep cuts to the NYPD’s budget, Brad Lander said Tuesday that — as mayor — he would take steps to hire more police officers while acknowledging progressive Democrats like himself were “slow to respond” to some public safety concerns that emerged during the COVID pandemic.
In a press conference outside NYPD headquarters in Manhattan, the city comptroller, who’s among a sprawling field of candidates challenging Mayor Adams in June’s Democratic primary, unveiled a public safety plan that included proposals he argued would help bring the Police Department’s staffing levels up to its budgeted headcount of 35,051 officers. Currently, the NYPD has 33,475 officers as department leaders have struggled with high retirement rates and flagging recruitment efforts.
“Instead of having 35,000 officers out on the street, we’ve got fewer than 33,500 and the problem is about to get much worse,” Lander said, noting retirement rates continue to climb as another 4,000 cops become eligible for retirement this year.
Lander’s call for more cops contrasts sharply with how he as a City Council member in 2020 pushed for slashing at least $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget.
At the time, Lander and many other progressives were calling for decreasing NYPD spending in favor of reallocating more resources for social services — policy platforms that came out of protest movements that erupted in response to the shocking police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Asked in Tuesday’s press conference what motivated his changing stance on diverting cash away from the NYPD, Lander said, “This is a strategy to confront the issues that I hear from New Yorkers in all five boroughs every single day.”
He also acknowledged progressive Democrats didn’t do a good enough job in addressing some of the public safety issues that became prevalent during the pandemic, including spikes in shootings.
“Progressives, myself included, were slow to respond to the elevation of crime and disorder that came through and out of the pandemic and that has given us many of the challenges that we’re dealing with today,” he said.
Lander wouldn’t give a specific price-tag when asked whether he thinks there are still parts of the NYPD that needs belt-tightening. But he did note police overtime spending — which has surged under Mayor Adams’ administration — should decrease if the department returns to full staffing levels.
Lander’s public safety proposal comes after other progressive candidates in June’s Democratic mayoral primary have also called for more cops. That includes Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who unveiled a plan last month for hiring 3,000 new officers, as polling shows public safety remains one of the most pressing issues for New York City voters, alongside affordability.
Under Adams, crime overall has dropped this year as compared to when he first took office in January 2022. But crime across all seven major categories remains higher than it was before the pandemic and when compared to all of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s eight years in office, NYPD data shows.
“Eric Adams came into office promising to keep New Yorkers, but he has failed,” Lander said Tuesday.
Vito Pitta, Adams’ campaign attorney, didn’t return a request for comment.
The proposals Lander floated for boosting NYPD retention and recruitment centered mostly on financial and educational incentives for officers.
First, he said he’d as mayor allow high school graduates to enter the NYPD’s cadet program contingent on them enrolling at a CUNY school or other partner college and in exchange be offered a $5,000 annual grant for a four-year degree. He also said he’ll back a bill pending in the state Legislature that’d jack up salaries for cops who serve more than 25 years and push the city’s pension funds to adopt his proposal to subsidize homeownership for municipal workers, including officers, as another carrot to keep them on the force longer.
Also in his press conference, Lander committed to keeping Jessica Tisch, Adams’ new police commissioner, in charge of the NYPD if he’s elected mayor.
Lander praised her for doing a good job, saying that Adams’ previous top cops and senior commanders “badly damaged” trust in the department by becoming ensnared in federal corruption investigations while the mayor himself was under indictment on corruption charges.
“I did let her know today that I hope to keep her as commissioner,” Lander said of Tisch. “I’m not going to reveal a private conversation, but I look forward to building a relationship.”
