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Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Mamdani's past 'visceral disdain' for police 'scares a lot of New Yorkers' for good reason: NYC crime expert
New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's past stances on policing are a legitimate reason for New Yorkers to be concerned, despite his recent walkbacks, according to a New York City crime expert who spoke to Fox News Digital. "I think what scares a lot of New Yorkers about the policy positions taken by Zohran Mamdani over the years is that he has exhibited not just a lack of appreciation for the men and women that stand on that [police] line, but a visceral disdain for them, which has led him to push for things like defunding and dismantling the police," Rafael A. Mangual, senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital, shortly after a gunman killed four people in midtown Manhattan, including a NYPD police officer. "It's not so much as just that he said, well, I wanna allocate some of this money to other places. He has gone so far as to say that we should dismantle the entire department." Mamdani recently attempted to walk back some of his past anti-police comments during a press conference in the aftermath of the shooting, but Mangual, who wrote an op-ed on the walkback for the New York Post, says he still has concerns despite the attempt to clarify past comments. "Even if he doesn't necessarily follow through on the most radical positions that he has taken in the very recent past, he has expressed support for a lot of initiatives that would erode public safety in lots of different ways, including and especially in the communities that deal with the brunt of our nation's gun violence problem," Mangual said. Mangual pointed to several possible scenarios under a Mamdani mayorship that could lead to problems for security in the city, including potentially working with the city council to eliminate the NYPD gang database, which Mangual said would be an "absolute disaster" for the city. "The other thing that Mamdani mayoralty might get us is an NYPD that's even less equipped than the current NYPD, which is certainly operating well below the ideal level in terms of force size," Mangual explained. "It's approaching skeleton crew status. The NYPD at the turn of the century had about 41,000 officers in its ranks, whereas now I think below 33,000 are just right around that mark. That's a really big change, especially given how many more 911 calls that department is fielding on an annual basis and how much more it has to do in a post-9/11 world where the department kind of took on these additional counter-terrorism and intelligence aspects to it. So, you run the risk of creating a situation in which a department that is already starved for recruits is going to become even more unattractive to people who are considering work in that department." Mangual explained that Mamdani was part of a "legislative landscape" as a state assemblyman that pushed bail reform and discovery reform that "have essentially made it significantly less likely that perpetrators who are arrested will be, A, prosecuted and B, held to account in a meaningful way." Mangual said he is concerned that Mamdani's resume will hurt police recruiting and eventually make the city less safe as the NYPD struggles to achieve full staffing. "So, now you have a situation in which you might have a mayor who has just set himself up for a terrible relationship with the police department who is signaling that he's going to cooperate with an increasingly radical city council who wants to take even more away from that police department, who is then going to send a signal that, 'Hey, you are not going to have a good time working here,'" Mangual said. Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
Fox News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'Damage control': Mamdani's 'blatant flip-flop' on defunding police ripped as 'political theatre'
New York City's socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his previous anti-police rhetoric on Wednesday in a move that New York elected officials and a crime expert told Fox News Digital amounted to lip service. Mamdani has long criticized the New York Police Department, calling for it to be defunded in 2020. He has also frequently called it "racist" and said the department's Strategic Response Group should be disbanded. In another social media post, Mamdani posted "nature is healing" in response to a comment about laughing at a cop crying in his car. However, on Wednesday, in the wake of a midtown Manhattan shooting that left an NYPD officer dead, Mamdani said his calls to defund the police were made out of "frustration" over George Floyd's death. His comments left several in the community unconvinced that he had genuinely turned the page from antagonizing the police and with the belief that the walkback was politically driven as the city reels from the worst mass shooting in half a century. "Zohran 'Nature Is Healing' Mamdani's Wednesday presser struck me as a cynical and transparent attempt at damage control in response to an incident that served as a violent and somber reminder to New Yorkers of the enormous daily risks taken on their behalf by the men and women of the NYPD," Rafael Mangual, senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, told Fox News Digital. Mangual went on to explain that Mamdani's explanation of his previous statements didn't go far enough. "But even under the tragic circumstances in which the press conference was held, Mamdani balked at multiple opportunities to explicitly retract or apologize for his long and sordid history of anti-police statements," Mangual, who penned an article in the New York Post Thursday on Mamdani's press conference, added. "He seemed defensive when confronted about his past statements, and even found a way to reiterate prior criticisms of the very unit that led the response to Monday evening's mass shooting in Midtown. It's going to take a lot more than a short press conference to undo the image of the anti-cop decarcerationist that Mamdani has been cultivating for years." New York City Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, an outspoken critic of Mamdani, told Fox News Digital that Mamdani's press conference shows he doesn't respect voters "because he thinks that we are too stupid to notice this blatant flip-flop." "He spent years bashing the NYPD and pushing a radical agenda, and only now is he racing to the center because he finally realized this city supports our cops and doesn't want a socialist mayor," Vernikov said. "No one with half a brain is buying it." New York Republican State Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz, a colleague of Mamdani's, told Fox News Digital that Mamdani's press conference was "political theatre." "Let's not rewrite history," Blumencranz said. "While a police officer and innocent New Yorkers were being murdered in New York City, Zohran Mamdani wasn't even in the city — he was on a well-protected compound in Uganda. Now he's back, playing pro-police for the cameras?" Blumencranz said that Mamdani, who he referred to as an "absentee colleague," has built a "campaign on demonizing law enforcement" that has become his "brand." "He called the NYPD 'wicked and corrupt,' said 'Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence,' and pushed to disband the very unit that responded to the shooting," Blumencranz said. "Now, after a primary win and a mass shooting tragedy, he wants voters to believe his convictions are/were just 'out of step'? This isn't growth — it's political theater. And New Yorkers — especially those mourning Officer Islam — deserve honesty, not opportunism dressed up as evolution." Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment. Mamdani attended the Thursday funeral of NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was killed in the midtown Manhattan shooting. Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and current NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who are both running as independents, were also in attendance. Mamdani spoke glowingly about Officer Islam at the Wednesday press conference, met with the officer's family, and answered questions about his previous calls to defund the police. "I am not running to defund the police," Mamdani said while describing himself as "a candidate who is not fixed in time, one that learns and one that leads, and part of that means admitting, as I have grown, and part of that means focusing on the people who deserve to be focused about."
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Clermont police looking to expand drone program
Leaders within the Clermont Police Department are already talking about ways to expand the agency's fledgling drone program after finding quick success with its small team. The department first launched its two American-made drones last year after years of training and delays due to changing regulations, including a ban on the more cost-effective Chinese-made drones. Their first success was a search-and-rescue where someone had broken their leg. They've since tracked down burglars and bike thieves, watched over standoffs and assessed hurricane damage. One of the six pilots analyzed his flights and found that a third of all his launches resulted in a major contribution toward the case's resolution, according to a late-April report to commanders. 'It's changing the game,' said pilot and detective Jonathan Mangual. Mangual showed off the capabilities of his drone, which included the ability to exceed 30 mph, maneuver around objects on its own and give voice commands, which other officers jokingly described as something out of a 'Robocop' scene. The department made sure the chosen pilots were spread out geographically and on different shifts so that the drones would always be available to fly. 'It's been really, really effective,' Capt. Malcom Draper said. 'We're doing our homework. We know we're doing our research. We're trying to look at these advances of technology, and we're trying to utilize them.' Mangual also talked about where drones could help the department in the future. He described scenarios of drones launching from the police department's roof to analyze scenes remotely before officers arrive, and – in the more immediate future – using indoor drones in tense situations like standoffs or potential ambushes so officers aren't put in harm's way. 'I think every department should get one, just for officer safety,' Mangual said. 'If we could get to someone and get to the scene first and get that feedback to officers, it's going to definitely change the game.' Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
Holyoke police arrest man, seize firearm after student enticement allegation
HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – A Chicopee man was arrested Wednesday morning after allegedly attempting to lure a high school student into his vehicle, leading Holyoke police to seize a loaded firearm and a significant quantity of drugs, authorities said. According to Holyoke Police Chief Brian Keenan, School Resource Officer Manny Rivera received a report around 7:50 a.m. from a student who said they had been approached by a man in a white pickup truck near Oak and West Franklin streets. The student told police that the driver attempted to persuade them to enter the vehicle. Officers immediately launched a search and, within 30 minutes, located the unoccupied truck on Franklin Street. They identified the vehicle's owner and later tracked down the suspect, 33-year-old Justin Mangual of Chicopee, inside an apartment on Maple Street. While conducting a sweep of the apartment, officers discovered approximately 100 vials of crack cocaine. Upon receiving permission to search the truck, they also recovered a loaded rifle. Authorities said Mangual did not have a driver's license or a license to carry a firearm. Mangual, who has a prior conviction for possession of a firearm without an FID card, was placed under arrest and charged with: Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle Carrying a Firearm without an FID Card – Subsequent Offense Chief Keenan praised the student for quickly alerting school staff, calling their response critical in leading officers to the suspect. 'I want to commend this student who, in a traumatic situation, immediately alerted staff of this incident,' Keenan said. 'Without that quick intervention and the ensuing actions by our responding police officers, we would not have been able to locate this suspect as quickly as we did.' He also credited School Resource Officer Rivera for building trust with students, which helped ensure a swift response. Holyoke police detectives are continuing to investigate the allegations of enticement and the narcotics found in the apartment. Additional charges could follow. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
