NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has taken multiple steps to limit the NYPD’s ability to arrest criminals. Photo courtesy of the NYC government.Three days before rioters in France burned Limoges’ city hall, damaged roughly 3,000 businesses, and injured 997 police officers and gendarmes, a New York City bill to bar the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) from responding to protests gained majority support. The Communities United to Reject Brutality (CURB) Act secured its 26th sponsor on October 14 in the 51-member Council.The bill would prohibit deploying SRG officers to “any First Amendment event or for the purpose of conducting crowd control.” Covered events include protests, parades, demonstrations, political rallies and other public gatherings. The ban would also apply to the Crowd Management Unit and any successor unit with similar duties, preventing the city from circumventing it by renaming the SRG.At these events or during crowd control, the bill would bar all NYPD officers from kettling, meaning encircling crowds and blocking exits; using bicycles to push or strike people; deploying tear gas or pepper spray; or using long-range acoustic devices or sound magnifiers above 90 decibels.The NYPD would also have to report quarterly on protest deployments, including officer counts, arrests, use of force, and misconduct complaints.The NYPD created the SRG in 2015 to strengthen its counterterrorism response. Its duties also include responding to mass mobilizations, shootings and protests, suppressing crime and controlling crowds.A 2023 court settlement already restricts SRG deployments at protests through a four-tier response system. It excludes the unit from low-risk events, limits it to support roles at moderate-risk events, and requires supervisor approval and body cameras in higher-risk situations.Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged to disband the SRG as a mayoral candidate in December 2024 and has reaffirmed that promise in office. After the unit arrested protesters demonstrating against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during September’s U.N. General Assembly, Mamdani said: “I have made that promise, I will fulfill that promise, the only question is the timeline of it.”Early in his term, Mamdani required the NYPD to obtain his office’s approval before deploying the SRG to make arrests at protests. The policy became public after an NYPD spokesperson disclosed it to Politico.Addressing the CURB Act, City Hall spokesperson Sam Raskin said the administration “shares its goal: disbanding the Strategic Response Group and ending the practice of policing protests through the same unit responsible for counterterrorism.”The bill cannot advance to a vote until the Committee on Public Safety holds a hearing, which chair Oswald Feliz has not scheduled. Feliz argued that the mayor must act because “the unit could be recreated the same day, under a different name,” even if the Council bars it from protests.Council Speaker Julie Menin has taken no public position. A source familiar with her thinking told The New York Times in March that she opposed the bill, citing concerns about the NYPD’s ability to respond to incidents such as that month’s attempted bombing outside Gracie Mansion and the 2025 Midtown Manhattan mass shooting if the SRG’s role were restricted.The CURB Act is one of several measures that would endanger the public by weakening the NYPD’s ability to deal with potentially violent suspects. On March 19, Mamdani signed an executive order creating the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety to send social workers instead of police to 911 calls involving nonviolent mental health crises. “Officers have to handle 200,000 mental health calls a year,” Mamdani said. “Today marks the end of that.” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told the Council the change would remove about 2% of service calls from NYPD jurisdiction.A related Council bill, Int. 403-2026, would make the shift permanent by establishing a Department of Community Safety to handle those calls. Sponsored by Council Member Lincoln Restler, it has 31 sponsors.Critics warn that these calls can turn violent without warning, endangering callers and responders. Former Mayor Eric Adams, a retired NYPD captain, called the idea “irresponsible” and “reckless.” Retired NYPD detective Phil Grimaldi told News 12 that the potential for rapid escalation requires police to respond to all emotionally disturbed person calls. New York political strategist Hank Sheinkopf questioned whether social workers are equipped to handle domestic disputes that turn violent.In the Chakraborty case, which Mamdani cited in support of the plan, the NYPD said Chakraborty lunged at officers with a knife.Another Council bill, Int. 460-2026, would require the NYPD to abolish its gang database and destroy its information within two years, while prohibiting any agency from creating a substantially similar replacement. Sponsored by Althea Stevens, a Democratic Council member representing District 16 in the South Bronx, it has 27 Council sponsors.Supporters argue the database is racially discriminatory, citing advocates’ figures that 99% of those listed are Black or Latino. Stevens questioned that disparity: “You cannot tell me that in New York City, we only have Black and Brown gangs.” At a May 2025 hearing, she argued that the database cannot be fixed because it originated in racism.Critics also challenge its procedures. At a February 2025 hearing, Council Member Yusef Salaam cited complaints about vague inclusion criteria, lack of notification, and no appeals process. He also cited a February 2023 investigative report that found inconsistent data entry and inadequate oversight.At a December 2024 hearing, Stevens was told that individuals cannot seek removal from the list. She has also said that those listed have not been charged with a crime and that the gang label has caused families to lose victim services or face eviction.New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has defended the gang database as a tool against gun violence. Mamdani supported abolition as a candidate but signaled openness to retaining it in April, citing reforms. The database shrank from about 14,000 people in 2024 to 8,563 by October 2025, roughly 0.1% of the city’s population.The NYPD argues that its demographics reflect involvement in gun violence rather than racial targeting. At a February 2025 hearing, Deputy Commissioner Michael Gerber confirmed that 99% of those listed are people of color, as were 96% of people arrested for shootings and 96% of shooting victims from 2019 to 2024.A Vital City analysis found that 67% of the city’s shooting victims in 2024 were Black, 29% Hispanic, and about 1% white. Suspects and arrestees had a similar racial breakdown, closely matching the database. By one estimate, gang members are involved as victims, perpetrators, or both in more than 65% of city shootings.Gerber testified that about 45% of those listed had been arrested with a firearm, and almost a third had been shooting perpetrators or suspects. He said inclusion now requires either an admission of gang membership or two independent sources. He also said the Department of Investigation report found no evidence that inclusion had harmed anyone.In May 2025, Tisch told the Council that all 27 Tren de Aragua members indicted in a federal takedown were in the database. She urged members to work with the NYPD to improve it rather than eliminate it.On October 12, Mamdani ordered the NYPD to conduct its first comprehensive review of use-of-force policies in a decade and added $2.6 million for the department’s inspector general’s office. Police union officials called the decision dangerous. Mamdani has also pledged that the NYPD will not assist federal immigration authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).The SRG pre-approval requirement and the Office of Community Safety are in effect, and the use-of-force review is underway. The CURB Act and bills to establish a Department of Community Safety and abolish the gang database remain in committee without a vote.The post As France Burns, NYC Council Moves to Bar NYPD’s Strategic Response Group from Protests appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.