Brad Lander Unveils Comprehensive Mayoral Blueprint for Public Safety
Lander’s plan includes retaining NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch; restoring accountability; addressing the NYPD’s staffing crisis, driving down gun violence, retail theft, and hate crimes; and ending street homelessness for people with serious mental illness.
Recorded livestream available here
NEW YORK, NY — Today, Brad Lander announced the most comprehensive public safety plan of any mayoral candidate, Safer for All: A Mayoral Blueprint for Public Safety. Lander will seek to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and build a public safety coalition to drive accountability and trust. The blueprint includes solutions to address the NYPD’s staffing crisis with new recruitment and retention programs. As Mayor, Lander will utilize evidence-based programs to drive down gun violence, retail theft, hate violence and harassment. Lander’s blueprint also includes his ready-on-day-one plans to end street homelessness for people with serious mental illness.
“All New Yorkers deserve to be safe, and to feel safe—whether on the subway, walking home at night, or sending their kids to school,” said Brad Lander. “An epidemic of corruption and lack of trust have damaged relationships between City Hall, the NYPD, and the people we serve. To bring back integrity and competence to our public safety systems, we must reprioritize accountability and leadership, which starts at the top.”
Lander continued, “As Mayor, I will seek to keep Jessica Tisch as NYPD Commissioner. After years of mismanagement and corruption in Eric Adams’ NYPD, Commissioner Tisch has done a strong job of pushing for reform, accountability, and outcomes-driven decision making. I will use every lever at my disposal to build a safer New York City, starting with the most comprehensive blueprint for public safety of any mayoral candidate.”
Lander will create a strong, accountable government that unites stakeholders — police, community members, City Hall, and district attorneys — through trust and integrity. As Mayor, he will build a public safety coalition to drive trust and accountability, and will:
Seek to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has brought a renewed focus on reform, accountability, and rigorous attention to public safety outcomes.
Appoint a Deputy Mayor for Public Safety who will oversee a comprehensive portfolio that recognizes the critical link between public safety, emergency response, and public health in order to ensure focused, coordinated leadership across safety and health agencies.
Modernize CompStat — which revolutionized policing 30 years ago with data-driven crime prevention, but has largely remained unchanged — by scaling a new evolution of the technology, NeighborhoodStat, recognized for driving more effective crime prevention and community safety.
The NYPD is facing a staffing crisis. Of the City’s budgeted 35,051 full time positions, as of October, there were 33,475 on staff – having lost about 50 officers per month since May of 2022 – and thousands more will become eligible for retirement over the next year. As Mayor, Lander will bring NYPD staffing up to its fully budgeted 35,000 officers through innovative recruitment and retention strategies, and improve the job experience for those on the force — while keeping over-time under control. To do so, Lander will:
Expand the Police Cadet Corps to boost and diversify NYPD recruitment by opening the program to high-school graduates without any college credits, who would start their jobs as NYPD cadets while enrolling at CUNY or other partner college, and be offered a $5,000 annual forgivable loan for a four-year college degree.
Retain experienced officers by supporting State Pension Bill S4262, which will help retain experienced detectives, sergeants, and lieutenants and ultimately help stabilize the workforce given retirements are up 305% as of January 2025.
Enable NYPD officers to become NYC homeowners through the Homes for City Workers program, which will double the purchasing power of officers who buy homes in the five boroughs.
Get overtime under control, which has blown past $1 billion annually, by incorporating fatigue policies into NYPD overtime procedures and track off-duty employment hours, recognizing the risks excessive hours pose to officers, public safety, and City liability.
Recent data shows that just 4% of NYC's blocks account for most shootings, often in neighborhoods with increased funding for violence interrupters. As Mayor, Lander will focus the NYPD on solving gun violence and violent crimes, especially in the highest need areas; stem the flow of illegal guns into New York City; partner with the state to speed up consequences; and reform and support community-based preventative measures proven to decrease gun violence.
Lander will expand and strengthen evidence-based, community-led strategies proven to reduce violence and interrupt cycles of retaliatory violence through trauma-informed, culturally relevant interventions. As Mayor, he will:
Work with DAs to scale out Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s targeted approach of prioritizing prosecutions for gun traffickers and individuals driving violence while expanding diversion programs for those at risk of reoffending.
Reform and support the City’s Crisis Management System (CMS), a network of community violence intervention organizations, to decrease gun violence.
Guarantee summer jobs for young people with risk factors associated with being a victim or otherwise otherwise be involved in gun violence.
Expand library hours, evening sports, provide better lighting in higher-crime areas, and fund public safety ambassadors and cultural events and beautification projects wherever possible.
Between 2019 and 2023 hate crime incidents grew by almost 60%. In 2023, nearly half of New York’s hate crimes were motivated by religious bias—with most targeting Jews, up a staggering 89% since 2018. As Mayor, Lander will combat hate and harassment in our city through utilizing cutting-edge technology, evidence-based prevention programs, victim support, and stronger law enforcement.
Lander also has a plan to combat retail theft, by reducing barriers to reporting with a streamlined, one-stop platform that stores can opt into, expediting investigations and enforcement through improved data and stakeholder coordination, and focusing on repeat offenders with enforcement and diversion programs. As businesses who opt in see declines in shoplifting, Lander’s proposal will require participating stores to remove barriers for low-cost items, like toothpaste, detergent, and deodorant.
Lander’s blueprint includes his #1 campaign commitment to end street homelessness for seriously mentally ill people utilising a Housing First Model, one critical step towards a City that’s safer for all.
Read Safer for All: A Mayoral Blueprint for Public Safety here.
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