NYPD Phone Tracking and the Mayor's Mixed Signals

Mayor Mamdani recently stopped a costly police plan. The city was going to spend two hundred twenty-five million dollars on a giant training site in Queens. People called it Cop City. The mayor's team said it was not necessary and wasted public money. There is no funding for it in the budget anymore.

At the same time, the police still want phone-tracking tools. The NYPD uses devices known as stingrays. These machines pretend to be cell towers. Officers use them to find suspects, missing people, and people who are suicidal. The mayor's office canceled a no-bid deal with an Israeli tech company after allies and advocates pushed back. But the police will still hold a competitive bidding process to buy similar technology.

Reporters asked the mayor if he supports stingrays. He did not say yes or no. He told them he would get back to them. This matters because State Senator Jabari Brisport, a friend of the mayor, introduced a bill to ban these devices. The mayor also said he opposes spying that has nothing to do with public safety. He brought up the past surveillance of Muslim New Yorkers after 9/11 as an example of what he dislikes.

Critics say the mayor is not doing enough. Activists warn that stingrays can collect data from people who are not suspects. Aber Kawas, an ally of the mayor who is running for state senate in Queens, called the tool dangerous. Kawas said it gives police too much power with too little oversight. Kawas also pointed to the NYPD's history of watching Muslim communities, Palestine activists, and communities of color. Michelle Dahl leads the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. She said New Yorkers are still waiting for the mayor to rein in the surveillance state.

Policing remains a weak spot for the mayor. He campaigned on changing public safety, but few big changes have happened. The police department still works much like it did under former Mayor Adams. Jessica Tisch is still the commissioner. She started as an intelligence analyst and helped build the NYPD's Domain Awareness System.