4 minPolitics
Mamdani prepares to disband NYPD Strategic Response Group
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reportedly set to announce the disbandment of the NYPD's Strategic Response Group, the unit that handles protests and civil disturbances, fulfilling a long-standing campaign promise. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch disputes the characterization of the move.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is preparing to announce the disbandment of the New York Police Department's Strategic Response Group, the specialized unit that has long been responsible for policing protests and civil disturbances. The move would fulfill a promise Mamdani made during his campaign and reflects pressure from his political base, according to reporting that first appeared in Politico.
The Strategic Response Group, or SRG, handles protests, civil disturbances, major public events and counterterrorism operations. The unit's origins lie in counterterrorism, and its role was later expanded to cover protest response. Mamdani has said he wants the response to protests separated from counterterrorism work, a distinction that sits at the center of the planned change.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has disputed the description of the plan as a disbandment. According to the reporting, Tisch said the discussions concern the broader question of how protests are policed rather than the elimination of the unit outright. She also said the SRG is usually not deployed for peaceful protests, a position that frames the unit's role as one reserved for specific situations rather than routine demonstrations.
Department figures cited in the reporting give that position a numerical footing. In 2025, the NYPD facilitated 4,255 protests, and the SRG was present at 245 of them, or roughly 6 percent. The data indicates that the unit's presence has been concentrated in a small share of the demonstrations the department handled that year, although the reporting does not say how many of those deployments involved arrests or confrontations.
Among the options under consideration at City Hall is moving the SRG under a new Office of Community Safety, a structure that would place the unit within a different chain of oversight. The change could be formalized through an executive order, according to the reporting. It remains unclear how the unit's duties would be replaced if its functions were reassigned or restructured, and the reporting does not say whether counterterrorism responsibilities would move with it.
City Hall has not confirmed the plan and had not commented in time for publication. A City Hall spokesperson said more details would be released soon, leaving the scope and timing of any formal announcement open.
The question of the unit's future is also unfolding alongside shifts in the city's finances. At its mid-year budget update, New York City's budget rose by more than $3 billion, to $129.2 billion. The reporting does not link the budget change directly to the SRG proposal, but the two developments are emerging at the same time in City Hall.
For a mayor whose campaign drew support from activists critical of aggressive police responses to demonstrations, the SRG decision carries political weight. The reporting describes the move as pressure from Mamdani's base being met, while the police commissioner's account frames it as a narrower revision of protest policing. How those two accounts are reconciled in any final announcement will likely determine how the change is understood by officers, protesters and the public.
Source: foxnews.com
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