New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended his retention of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Tuesday, rebuffing demands from Democratic Socialist allies to remove her following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting in the Bronx that wounded a 28-year-old man.
Speaking ahead of a ceremony honoring fallen NYPD officers, Mamdani was direct when pressed on Tisch's job security. "Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that," he told reporters.
The mayor's reasoning centered on two metrics: corruption purges and crime reduction. "The reason that I made the decision to have Jessica Tisch as the police commissioner was because of her record of uprooting corruption from the upper echelons of the NYPD while lowering crime across our city," Mamdani said. "Over the last 10 months that we've worked together, we have delivered the lowest recorded number of murders in our city's history, the lowest recorded number of shootings as well as shooting victims."
Mamdani's reference to historically low homicide and shooting figures aligns with public crime data released by the NYPD, according to the department's records.
The pushback from Mamdani represents a split within the city's progressive coalition. The New York City Democratic Socialists of America had called for Tisch's removal following last week's shooting of Oscar Belgal during a federal immigration enforcement operation in the Bronx. The DSA simultaneously demanded that Mamdani use executive authority to expel ICE from New York City.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national, was shot after allegedly refusing to comply with officers' orders during a targeted operation to arrest him. ICE has not released additional details about the encounter.
A City Hall spokesperson confirmed earlier this week that Mamdani was conducting a review of the shooting's circumstances but saw no grounds for removing Tisch from her position. The mayor has directed the NYPD to undertake a comprehensive examination of use-of-force policies and announced reforms designed to strengthen accountability mechanisms when officers face serious misconduct allegations.
Scott Munro, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association representing active and retired NYPD detectives, said he believes Mamdani supports the police commissioner. Munro told reporters that declining crime rates and Tisch's performance metrics demonstrated she was "doing her job."
Mamdani and Tisch appeared together at the New York City Police Memorial on Tuesday, where they honored 42 fallen NYPD members. The ceremony recognized 41 officers who died from illnesses related to the September 11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath, as well as Detective First Grade Didarul Islam, who was killed in a 2025 Midtown Manhattan mass shooting.
During the memorial service, Mamdani paid tribute to the fallen officers and their families. "While we cannot feel the silence they left behind, we will refuse to let their memory fade," he said.
