Public Safety & Policing

Approaches to public safety, police reform, and criminal justice.

About this Issue

Learn more about this important topic.

Approaches to public safety, police reform, and criminal justice.

The movement for police accountability has brought renewed attention to issues of police brutality, racial profiling, and the criminalization of poverty and mental illness in New York City.

Key public safety and policing issues include:

  • Reforming police practices and addressing misconduct
  • Reducing police violence and excessive force
  • Ending racial profiling and discriminatory policing
  • Investing in community-based solutions to crime
  • Addressing the root causes of crime through social services

The next mayor must address these concerns, reimagine public safety beyond policing, and invest in community-based solutions that address the root causes of crime and violence.

Candidate Positions

Ordered from most-likely to least-likely to fight for the working class on this issue

Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani

Public safety means investing in our communities, not criminalizing poverty and mental illness.

Mamdani supports redirecting funds from the NYPD to community-based violence prevention programs and social services. He advocates for ending broken windows policing and investing in alternatives to incarceration.

Zellnor Myrie

Zellnor Myrie

Myrie has been a leader on police reform, sponsoring legislation to repeal 50-a and establish special prosecutors for police misconduct cases. He advocates for community-based approaches to public safety.

Brad Lander

Brad Lander

Lander supports police accountability and redirecting some police funding to community-based services. He has advocated for ending broken windows policing and investing in violence prevention programs.

Adrienne Adams

Adrienne Adams

We need both safety and justice in our communities. These goals are not mutually exclusive.

Adams supports police reform and accountability measures while also emphasizing public safety. She has advocated for community-based approaches to violence prevention alongside traditional policing.

Scott Stringer

Scott Stringer

Stringer supports police reform and accountability measures, including redirecting some police funding to social services. He has advocated for community-based approaches to public safety.

Andrew Cuomo

Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo has implemented some police reforms, including a ban on chokeholds and the repeal of 50-a, which shielded police disciplinary records. However, he has generally taken a moderate approach to policing issues and has not supported significant reallocation of police funding.

Why This Issue Matters

Public Safety Reform

The movement for police accountability has brought renewed attention to issues of police brutality, racial profiling, and the criminalization of poverty and mental illness in New York City.

The next mayor must address these concerns, reimagine public safety beyond policing, and invest in community-based solutions that address the root causes of crime and violence.