New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office must approve any deployment of the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group to detain protesters, despite his campaign promise to disband the controversial unit.
The requirement was introduced during the first few months of Mr Mamdani’s administration and gives City Hall the final say over the specialist police unit’s use at demonstrations. It has not previously been reported.
The policy came to light after SRG officers arrested activists protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance at the United Nations General Assembly last week. Several politicians allied with Mr Mamdani were among those detained.
An NYPD spokesman confirmed that the mayor’s office approves SRG deployments when the department wants to make arrests at protests. “We communicate with City Hall on this topic as we do on a host of things related to the department,” he said.
Mr Mamdani appeared to question the operation on Monday, saying he did not believe the unit’s use at the demonstrations had been justified. “I’ve been clear that my vision is for the disbanding of the SRG,” he told reporters when asked whether its deployment had been an appropriate use of police resources.
However, the mayor’s office declined to explain why it had not blocked the deployment if Mr Mamdani believed it was inappropriate. His spokesman also did not say whether the mayor had ever rejected an NYPD request to use the unit.
Pressure over Strategic Response Group pledge
Amanda Jack, policy director for criminal law reform at The Legal Aid Society, said it was troubling that City Hall could stop SRG deployments but continued to approve them.
“This further confirms that regulating SRG deployments isn’t the solution. City Hall must finally make good on Mayor Mamdani’s campaign promise to disband SRG for good,” she said.
The dispute is a point of tension between Mr Mamdani and NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has defended the unit as an important part of the department’s crime-fighting strategy.
Mr Mamdani, a democratic socialist who had supported calls to defund the NYPD before launching his mayoral campaign, has said he is discussing the unit’s future with Ms Tisch. Nine months into his term, however, those talks have not produced any concrete change.
Founded in 2015 for counterterrorism duties, the Strategic Response Group later took on responsibility for responding to protests that become chaotic or violent. Reform advocates say its officers have attracted disproportionately high numbers of misconduct complaints during demonstrations.
A 2023 court settlement introduced additional restrictions on how the unit could be deployed at protests. Mr Mamdani and other critics have argued that the safeguards do not go far enough, and that the SRG should be dismantled so it can return to its original counterterrorism role.
Reaffirming his position on Monday, Mr Mamdani said: “I have made that promise, I will fulfill that promise. The only question is the timeline of it.”
