The mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, ordered a revision of the rules by which NYPD agents can resort to force during the interventions. It is the first overall review of these procedures for ten years and will take place in the coming months, including residents and civil society organizations. The announcement, which arrived yesterday, Monday, October 12, includes new measures to strengthen controls on the behaviour of agents and prevent any disciplinary proceedings from being interrupted by their retirement.
The decision is mainly linked to the case of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old boy killed by the police in March 2024 in his home in Queens. Rozario had called 911 while crossing a mental health crisis. On the arrival of the agents, the situation was quickly degenerated: the boy had held a pair of scissors and, after being hit with a taser, he had been reached by five gunshots. The images of the cameras worn by the agents documented the intervention, lasted a few minutes.
The investigation of the Attorney General of the State of New York concluded that there were no conditions to start a criminal proceedings against the two police officers, believing that the use of the lethal force could be justified by the need to defend itself. The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the independent body that examines complaints against agents, however, had come to a different assessment of compliance with internal procedures. In September 2025 he established that four of the five shots fired violated the NYPD guidelines, calling for the opening of disciplinary proceedings against agents Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco.
The proceeding against Alongi has never been carried out. In May 2026, the officer obtained medical retirement before the JRCB could bring the case to the disciplinary committee. The police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, acknowledged that the department should have informed the body about the request for retirement, allowing him to speed up the procedure. He attributed the lack of communication to a human error and apologized. The proceedings against the other agent, Cianfrocco, remain open.
To prevent similar situations from being repeated, NYPD has already introduced a system of notifications that allows the control bodies to know when an investigating agent asks to retire. The department will also formalize the communication to state authorities of cases where a police officer leaves the service with disciplinary charges still pending, so that the revocation of the certification necessary to work in other state police bodies is assessed.
The plan announced by the municipality also includes $2.6 million for the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, the independent office that controls the policies and practices of the department. The funding should allow you to triple the staff currently available. The police will also have to make the information more regular after the interventions in which someone is killed or seriously injured, making available to the families who request the final reports of the internal investigation.
The review will also cover the procedures used during interventions against people who cross mental health crisis, one of the most discussed points after Rozario’s death. The current rules predict that agents try to reduce tension before resorting to force, when circumstances allow it. The use of lethal force is admitted in the presence of an imminent danger of death or serious injury. The review should assess whether these indications are sufficiently clear and how they are applied during the interventions.
The announcement arrives at a moment of tension between Mamdani and a part of its supporters, who call for more incisive changes in police management. The criticisms intensified after the recent shooting that involved federal immigration agents in Marble Hill and subsequent protests, during which NYPD behavior was also challenged. According to the municipality, however, the revision of the rules on the use of force had been arranged before that episode.
The president of the Police Benevolent Association, Patrick Hendry, criticized the measure, claiming that the mayor is trying to satisfy the demands of his political base and that the measures announced will not make New York more secure. Mamdani explained instead that the goal is to ensure that agents only recognize strength when necessary and that their decisions can be subjected to actual checks.
The revision does not mean, for the moment, an immediate modification of the rules on the use of force. The municipality has not indicated a date for the conclusion of the work or anticipated what provisions could change. The measures on disciplinary proceedings and transparency have already been initiated or announced separately.
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