Details apparently aren’t Hiz department.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushed his vague “Department of Community Safety” again on Tuesday after the NYPD’s recent shooting of a mentally ill Queens man – but couldn’t say how the newfangled agency would’ve responded.
The cops’ chaotic confrontation with Jabez Chakraborty — a schizophrenic 22-year-old whom NYPD officers shot and injured Jan. 26 after he allegedly waved a knife at them — only highlighted the urgent need for a different mental health response system, Hizzoner argued.
“That is why I proposed creating a Department of Community Safety to build a mental health system rooted in prevention, and sustained care, and a real crisis response, so officers no longer have to handle these situations alone,” he said at a press conference announcing free tax prep for New Yorkers.
“While we have been developing this implementation plan I have told my administration to speed up this work.”
Mamdani also said he didn’t believe Chakraborty should face criminal charges, telling reporters “in viewing [police body-cam] footage, it is clear to me that what Javez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney.”
But as Mamdani said he wanted to hit the gas on getting the proposed $1 billion agency up and running, he remained excruciatingly slow on providing actual details as to how it’d work.
The Democratic socialist envisions the Department of Community Safety will have social workers handle many public safety issues — such as those involving mentally disturbed New Yorkers — and free up the NYPD to focus more on serious crimes.
When pressed, Mamdani vaguely promised that the NYPD would still be on the scene if a situation is violent.
He did not spill any other significant details, even after it was pointed out that first responders don’t always know if an incident will turn out to be violent.
“A lot of this is exactly the focus of the conversations that we’re having internally, developing out this Department of Community Safety,” he said.
“Additionally, I want to make clear that a person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer.”
Chakraborty’s family has criticized cops for how they responded to their 911 call asking for help because he was “throwing glass against the wall” at their home in Queens.
“We called 911 for an ambulance to provide medical attention for our son, who was in emotional distress,” the family said in a statement posted online by Desis Rising Up and Moving, a South Asian immigrant advocacy group aligned with Mamdani.
“We did not call the police.”
Police contended Chakraborty grabbed a large kitchen knife and threatened the cops, prompting them to open fire.
He remained hospitalized Tuesday, as the NYPD said it would release body-camera footage from the cops involved in the incident.
Chaktraborty’s family also accused cops of confiscating their phones and demanding to know what country they were from — a claim that Mamdani said was under investigation.
The mayor also said he visited Chakraborty at the hospital and met with his family.
