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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ordered the NYPD to conduct its first review of its use-of-force policies in a decade, along with a package of reforms aimed at holding officers accountable for serious misconduct.

Getting into it: Mayor Mamdani made the announcement on Monday, days after it was revealed that officer Salvatore Alongi, one of two officers who fatally shot 19-year-old Win Rozario during a mental health crisis call in Queens in March 2024, retired on a disability pension in May without ever going through a disciplinary trial. Body camera footage shows Rozario charging at officers with a pair of scissors as his mother and brother pleaded with police to hold their fire.

New York AG Letitia James declined to bring criminal charges, but the officers still faced an internal review. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch apologized, saying the department failed to notify the Civilian Complaint Review Board of the retirement due to “human error.”

According to Mayor Mamdani, the reforms include $2.6 million in extra funding for the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, which had been cut down to just three staffers last year; a new system to make sure disciplinary cases are completed before an officer retires; and a heads-up to state officials whenever an officer leaves with charges still open, to keep them from landing a job at another department. The review itself is expected to run for several months, with community members weighing in along the way.

In a statement, the mayor said, “When the government uses force against a New Yorker, the standard for accountability must be at its highest. Every New Yorker deserves to know that force will be used lawfully, carefully and only when necessary. We have an obligation to Win’s family and to every New Yorker who calls for help in a moment of crisis.”

Another view: Police unions blasted the move, with Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry saying, “the mayor’s radical base wants a wholesale dismantling of the NYPD, and it’s clear this announcement is an attempt to appease them,” and Detectives Endowment Association head Scott Munro warning, “New Yorkers should be worried.”

This all comes as reported use-of-force incidents have risen from 4,087 in 2016 to 12,348 in 2025, even as the city recorded its fewest shootings and murders on record through the first nine months of this year.