New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has confirmed he will retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch but opposes boosting the NYPD’s ranks beyond the roughly 35,000 officers currently budgeted. His stance puts him at odds with Tisch, who has backed Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to hire more than 5,000 additional officers to reach a 40,000-member force by 2029.
Five years ago, as a state assemblyman, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani publicly called to defund the police. Today, the 34‑year‑old Democrat says he supports maintaining funding for the New York Police Department but does not want to expand its headcount, a position that conflicts with Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s push for more officers.
Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mamdani explained why he decided to keep Tisch in place when he takes office. “The reason I made the decision to retain commissioner Tisch is because of the importance of outcomes,” he said, according to an interview cited by the Daily Wire. “The fact that she has been able to deliver on rooting out corruption while lowering crime is something to be celebrated, and I think the commissioner and I have been very clear that what brings us together is a shared importance of public safety — I think we can do that with the officers we have.”
Tisch, who was appointed commissioner by Mayor Eric Adams in late 2024, has credited recent crime reductions to the work of front‑line officers “against all odds.” At a January news conference this year, she said, “The crime reductions we saw last year were achieved against all odds and are entirely attributable to the hard work and the grit of New York’s finest. The deck has been completely stacked against our cops.” She has repeatedly argued that low staffing levels and what she describes as a justice system that “prioritizes offenders over victims” make officers’ jobs more difficult, and she has urged the city to hire more police to address what she calls “surging recidivism.”
In November, Tisch joined Adams in supporting a proposal to fund more than 5,000 additional NYPD officers, with the goal of reaching a 40,000‑member force by fiscal year 2029, according to city officials and local news reports. Mamdani, by contrast, has said he wants to hold the force at the approximately 35,000 positions currently budgeted. “I’ve said over the course of the campaign that I think the number we’ve had budgeted of 35,000 officers is a sufficient number,” he told reporters. “What we have to do, however, is to allow those officers to focus on policing.”
Mamdani has argued that one way to do that is to shift certain responsibilities off the NYPD’s plate. Citing internal city figures reported by the Daily Wire, he noted that the department responds to roughly 200,000 mental health‑related calls a year. He has proposed creating a new Department of Community Safety that would take the lead on mental health and homelessness crises, allowing police to focus on serious crime.
Tisch, meanwhile, has linked persistent crime and repeat offending to state‑level legislative changes that took effect in 2020, saying they contributed to what she calls a “revolving door” in the criminal justice system. She has highlighted examples of alleged repeat offenders, including a case in which a suspect with 17 prior arrests, many while on lifetime parole, allegedly robbed a Queens deli at gunpoint and then shot a New York City police officer and a bystander. “Imagine how disheartening it is for our cops to be out there arresting the same people for the same crimes in the same neighborhoods day after day,” she said.
The debate over staffing has intensified in the closing weeks of Adams’ term. The mayor’s plan to grow the NYPD to 40,000 officers by 2029 would represent its largest headcount in about two decades, according to budget documents and press statements. Supporters, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo, argue that adding thousands of officers is necessary to address attrition and restore what they describe as a full‑strength force. Mamdani has countered that New Yorkers are more concerned with effective public safety strategies than with reaching a specific number of officers.
Mamdani’s decision to retain Tisch has drawn attention beyond New York. The Daily Wire reports that officials in the Trump administration have expressed approval of his choice, viewing the commissioner as a stabilizing force amid political fights over policing. In a recent interview, Kevin Hassett, who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Donald Trump, said he was reassured that Mamdani would keep Tisch on, warning that in previous eras “law and order” in the city had suffered when leadership at the top of the NYPD changed.
As Mamdani prepares to take office on January 1, 2026, he and Tisch remain aligned on the broad goal of lowering crime and maintaining public safety, even as they differ sharply on how large the NYPD should be and how best to confront repeat offending and quality‑of‑life concerns.
