Using the sharpest criticism yet from city officials, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday she was “revolted” by the idea of militarizing New York City streets with federal troops, rejecting the kind of National Guard deployment President Donald Trump has already implemented in Washington, D.C., and threatened for Chicago.
Speaking at a breakfast forum hosted by the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission, Tisch said the presence of the Guard would create chaos and confusion.
“I am revolted by the idea of the militarization of our streets,” she said. “We’ve got this, we don’t need or want the federal government’s help here in that way.”
Trump has already sent National Guard troops to D.C. and Los Angeles and has repeatedly said Chicago needs federal help with policing. He escalated his rhetoric over the weekend in a social media post using his new nickname for the U.S. Department of Defense: “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
Tisch told U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi last month that federal troops are not needed in New York City, a spokesperson for the NYPD said.
She argued Monday that the National Guard isn’t trained for street-level policing, and questioned what federal troops would actually do in New York.
“I guess the president could have the National Guard come here and stand on street corners and walk through the subway system,” she said. “How that would work and what that would be? I’m not sure yet.”
Instead of sending in troops, Tisch said the federal government should do more to stop the flow of illegal guns and assign more prosecutors to help bring gun cases in the city.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has also rejected the idea of a federal deployment, saying she told Trump directly that the city doesn’t need federal troops. Legal experts have questioned whether he would have the authority to deploy troops to cities over a governor’s objections.
Tisch, Mamdani spar over bail
Tisch also used the forum to draw a sharp contrast with Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani on criminal justice reform.
Tisch rejected the idea that the pandemic caused a spike in crime, blaming instead the state’s 2020 bail reform laws that eliminated cash bail for most non-violent offenses. She said those reforms, combined with a mental health crisis, led to a sustained rise in crime, which she acknowledged remains above pre-pandemic levels.
She went further, calling for rolling back Raise the Age, the 2018 state law that reduced criminal penalties for minors.
Hours later at a public safety forum at Columbia University, Mamdani disputed Tisch’s claims, saying crime spiked after the pandemic, even in states that didn’t change their bail laws. Many researchers have agreed that New York’s bail reforms were not the main driver of crime increases.
Mamdani also defended Raise the Age, saying the law hasn’t been fully implemented.
“I think we’ve even seen with Raise the Age that there are fewer arrests of younger New Yorkers than there were prior to the implementation of that legislation,” he said, adding that about two-thirds of the law’s funding has yet to be spent.
Despite their differences on criminal justice, Mamdani praised Tisch’s focus on public safety and rooting out corruption in the department.
Without naming her directly, he also said that if elected mayor, he wouldn’t surround himself with people who always say yes.
“But rather people who will push you and be able to deliver on this agenda,” he said.