‘That’s a Dodge’: Bratton Pushes Back on Zohran Mamdani’s Reasoning for Dismantling NYPD Protest Unit

A former NYPD commissioner, William J. Bratton, called on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani not to follow through on his campaign promise to axe the New York City Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, which responds to disruptive protests as one of its functions, arguing that the unit remains “the right choice to police protests around the city.”“Why has SRG been their favorite target? I suspect it’s because SRG is so effective at preventing mayhem without compromising itself,” Mr. Bratton wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.He added: “Every day and night, SRG is out there, swarming to a Queens neighborhood to search for a missing child, patrolling the Bronx to reduce shootings, covering a major event in Manhattan so precinct units can keep answering calls for help.”Mr. Bratton’s op-ed appeared on the same day that video footage circulated on social media showing NYPD officers being pelted repeatedly in the body and head with snowballs, at close range, by a group of young people who were gathered at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Two officers sustained injuries to their heads, necks, and faces during the incident. On Tuesday evening, the NYPD released pictures of two suspects wanted for assault on a police officer, alleging they “intentionally struck the officers multiple times with snow and ice,” causing injury.“NYPD cops are issued handcuffs for a reason. SRG should have also been called in,” a retired NYPD lieutenant and host of the podcast New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered, John D. Macari Jr., wrote on X. Earlier that same day, Mr. Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, said he did not believe anyone should be charged in connection with the incident. “I can just tell you from the video I saw, it looked like kids at a snowball fight,” Mr. Mamdani said.In response, Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry called Mr. Mamdani’s remarks “a complete failure of leadership.”“By ignoring their injuries and dismissing the incident, the mayor has sent a disgraceful message to every police officer who serves this city, and a dangerous message to every person who might be looking to attack a police officer in the future,” Mr. Hendry said in a statement.Also on Monday, seven marked NYPD vehicles had their tires slashed outside the SRG 3 headquarters in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.Last month, Mr. Mamdani resumed his call to disband the SRG one day after the unit made several arrests at an anti-ICE demonstration inside a Tribeca hotel. At the time, more than 60 protestors occupied the lobby of a Hilton Garden Inn in the affluent downtown neighborhood after believing the hotel was housing federal immigration agents from out of town.The NYPD, including SRG officers, responded to the protesters, spending 45 minutes demanding that the protesters leave the lobby. The NYPD ultimately arrested 66 people, 64 of whom ultimately received summonses for disorderly conduct and trespassing, according to the NYPD.SRG was the brainchild of Mr. Bratton, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio’s police commissioner, designed to give the NYPD a flexible unit capable of operating on both “offense and defense” when responding to terrorist attacks. During his campaign for mayor, Mr. Mamdani accused the SRG of costing taxpayers millions in legal settlements and claimed the unit had “brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their First Amendment rights.”“Why has SRG been their favorite target? I suspect it’s because SRG is so effective at preventing mayhem without compromising itself. SRG doesn’t use tear gas or shoot ‘pepper balls’ or rubber bullets as seen in other cities,” Mr. Bratton wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “That isn’t how the NYPD operates. Has an SRG officer ever used excessive force? Yes, it has happened—these officers are human. But SRG continues to evolve and is trained in team tactics to avoid such mistakes,” he added.At the time, Mr. Mamdani said he was conferring with his police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, about options for dismantling the unit.“We don’t believe that there should be a unit that has both counterterrorism responsibilities and responsibilities to respond to protests. The conflation of the two is part of this issue,” Mr. Mamdani said during a January press conference. Writing in the Journal, Mr. Bratton rejected that argument. “That’s a dodge. SRG doesn’t deploy heavy weapons at protests. Never has, never will. It’s a different mission,” Mr. Bratton added.The SRG was launched in2015 under Mr. Bratton to allow police officers to operate on both “offense and defense” when responding to terrorist attacks. “In 2015, the NYPD didn’t have a functional squad of officers who could be moved to deal with major incidents. Precinct units get tied up—sometimes for hours—with a shooting, a missing child or planned events like the Thanksgiving Day Parade. SRG gave us the flexibility to deploy officers around the city on short notice,” Mr. Bratton wrote in the Journal.That same year, the SRG came under fire for its “aggressive” response to protesters demonstrating against the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody in Baltimore, inflaming anti-police sentiment in cities across the country. The NYPD arrested more than 140 people, at least two of them for assaulting officers – a response that social justice groups and progressive city politicians claimed was needlessly escalatory.“Problems arose when cops from different commands were sent all over the city with no training in crowd control and uncertain chains of command. SRG is the solution. All its members are trained in crowd and disorder control. SRG has a clear chain of command. If someone chooses to make a complaint, SRG officers’ names and shield numbers are stitched into their uniforms in plain view,” Mr. Bratton wrote.In 2021, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, sued the NYPD and New York for “using excessive force and making false arrests.” While the future of the SRG still hangs in the balance — it isn’t immediately clear if Mr. Mamdani and Ms. Tisch have reached an agreement on its future — Mr. Bratton called on Mr. Mamdani to keep “the right choice to police protests around the city” intact. He added, “If we abolish SRG, we will have to reinvent it later.”

‘That’s a Dodge’: Bratton Pushes Back on Zohran Mamdani’s Reasoning for Dismantling NYPD Protest Unit

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