Zohran Mamdani wants to strip power from NYPD commissioner — revoking final say on officer discipline

Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani wants to strip the NYPD commissioner’s power to discipline cops, giving the final say to the city’s civilian police oversight board.

The NYPD’s largest union warned the Democratic nominee’s proposal would lead to the “end of policing in this city,” as cops are already worried about receiving a fair shake from the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

The proud socialists told reporters Tuesday he wants to embolden the CCRB so that the panel has final say on serious disciplinary matters, rather than issuing recommendations to the city’s top cop as it does currently.

“I think that what it needs to be is that it is a body that is actually empowered so that it works,” Mamdani said, adding, “It’s oversight is one that extends to more than simply a recommendation.”

“What I would do is ensure that the recommendations of the CCRB be understood to be the final voice of the question of accountability,” he said during an unrelated press conference in Manhattan.

The comments were instantly met with fierce blowback as the Queens state assemblyman continues to trudge through his apology tour for his past anti-police statements — claiming he’s been saying sorry to individual rank-and-file cops as he meets them while campaigning.

“Granting the Civilian Complaint Review Board final disciplinary authority will spell the end of policing in this city,” railed Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry.

“Police officers know that we have zero chance of receiving a fair hearing from the anti-police activists who dominate CCRB’s board,” Hendry said in a statement.

“If Assemblyman Mamdani pursues this plan, he will prove that all his talk about ‘outreach’ to police officers is a sham – he’s running to defund the police after all.”

The Sergeants Benevolent Association union said the proposed powershift was the easiest way to ensure a mass exodus of cops from the department.

“Further empowering the CCRB will destroy the morale of this agency and exacerbate our current problems with recruitment and retainment,” warned SBA President Vincent Vallelong.

“If that’s Mamdani’s vision for our department he will never have the support of the men and women who keep this city safe 24/7.”

Mamdani’s stance is unsurprising for a Democratic Socialists of America member, with local followers often calling for the CCRB to have more power and slamming the commissioner if he or she breaks with the board’s suggestions.

Earlier this year, Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban railed against Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s decision not to fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera over the killing of Allan Feliz during a traffic stop.

Mamdani worked on Caban’s unsuccessful bid for Queens district attorney in 2019.

The mayoral hopeful has already faced heat for his prior attacks on the NYPD, including calling the department “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety” on social media in 2020.

He said more than two weeks ago that he should apologize to the NYPD for the comments, but has since offered up a word-salad response when pressed on how or when he’d walk back the statements.

The lefty lawmaker has also attempted to distance himself from his past “defund the police” views as he eyes the November election.

Democratic operatives told The Post the meandering retorts ensure the DSA will come out in full force to back Mamdani.

If elected, Mamdani could convene a Charter Review Commission and task it with creating a ballot question to put to voters to opt whether to allow the CCRB to effectively outrank the police commissioner on disciplinary decisions.

The head of the sergeants’ union bemoaned any bid to strip the PC of power in favor of the civilian panel.

“Any attempt to dilute the power of the police commissioner and hand more power to the CCRB will be strongly opposed by the SBA and met with fierce resistance,” Vallelong said.

“We are part of the largest police department in the world, which has consistently, over the past four years, made NYC the safest big city in America.”