A trio of New York Police Department (NYPD) officers spoke with the Daily Caller and rebuked socialist Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s claims that cops are leaving the force because of too much overtime.
Mamdani leads the field in polling for the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, according to Pix 11 News. He made the claims during an early June appearance on the popular radio program “The Breakfast Club.”
“When you ask the police, there are 200 officers leaving the department every month, and one of the leading causes is forced overtime, because of quality of life. They don’t know when they’re going home, they’re working doubles and triples,” he said in the interview.
Three NYPD officers, who spoke to the Caller on the condition of anonymity, disputed those claims.
One officer, who asked not to be identified at all, said he believes the claims are far-fetched considering the department has already been cutting back on overtime (OT). (RELATED: NYC Socialist Mayoral Candidate Hires Private Security While Pushing Lefty Police Reform)
“There’s no way enough officers complained about it enough for him to say that. If anything, we want more OT,” he told the Caller.
Another officer, who asked to be referred to as “Anthony,” was also critical of Mamdani’s claims.
“I don’t know how many cops he knows but I don’t think that makes sense,” Anthony said.
Anthony also lamented what he viewed as a poor slate of candidates.
“I don’t really see any of those guys as good options for us. You’ve got Cuomo and all the stuff he did with the nursing homes,” he told the Caller.
Anthony was referring to former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running in the mayoral primary. Cuomo signed a 2020 order forcing nursing homes to admit over 9,000 COVID-19 positive patients from hospitals.
At least 4,000 nursing home residents died while the order was active, including in 323 nursing homes where there were no reported COVID-19 cases before the order, according to a report from New York Attorney General Letitia James. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: New York Admits Knowingly Undercounting Nursing Home Deaths After Quietly Changing Reporting Rules)
Cuomo was the favorite in the Democratic primary until Mamdani passed him in numerous polls and the Polymarket betting odds Monday.
A third officer, who spoke to the Caller during a pro-Palestine rally in New York’s Union Square Park Saturday, also pushed back on Mamdani’s claims.
“No one is forcing us to do anything,” the officer, who also asked to remain anonymous, said.
Mamdani’s overtime budget slash proposal came amid a push for a new Department of Community Safety, according to a Google Doc obtained from Mamdani’s website.
He’s proposed $1.1 billion for the department, including $455 million in new funding, according to the document. The department would send mental health counselors to certain “non-violent” 911 calls for crisis events in lieu of sending police.
While he was adamant during a June primary debate that he would not defund the police, he previously called to explicitly do so in a X post.
“Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence,” he said of the NYPD in a 2020 tweet.
All this misery. All for money.
In the last budget, the City Council tried to make the NYPD reduce its overtime budget by half. They simply refused.
There is no negotiating with an institution this wicked & corrupt.
Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence. (10/10) pic.twitter.com/CKmSHvnH1m
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) December 7, 2020
His proposals have been deemed radical by both sides of the political spectrum, including by the New York Times (NYT) Editorial Board.
“He is a democratic socialist who too often ignores the unavoidable trade-offs of governance,” the board wrote.
“He minimizes the importance of policing,” the op-ed added.