For the past few days, New Yorkers have been coming to terms with the mass shooting that took place this month. Four people were killed after this unexpected act of violence, including a police officer. The tragedy eventually came to the attention of Zohran Mamdani, who is currently the leading democratic nominee for the mayoral election. The man who was once a proud advocate for defunding the police has now retracted his past statements and believes that such actions will greatly affect the public’s safety.
This statement follows numerous criticisms made by other political parties, which have condemned Zohran for his past stances on defunding the police. Zohran seems like he now regrets the things he said back then, which to me, shows that he is willing to admit when he is wrong and won’t try to excuse it. Of course, if one were to play devil’s advocate, the argument could be made that he only retracted his stance because he got called out for it. Regardless, it at least seems that defunding the police will not be an approach taken after the mass shooting.
Alternatives need to be examined to determine how we can properly support the police’s endeavors to ensure our safety, while also making sure that their powers will not be misused. There will always be bad apples in any profession you find, but when your job is to enforce order and protect people, you need to make sure everyone is on the same page. Rather than taking money away from all the good officers in the NYPD, we should look at reformations and reevaluations to ensure that only good people wear the badge.
