Incoming Comptroller Brad Lander, who Previously Advocated to Defund the Police, to Enjoy NYPD Security Detail

When Brad Lander was representing the 39th District in Brooklyn as a member of the City Council, in June of 2020, he wrote an open letter entitled, “My commitment to working to defund the NYPD” to his constituents, however, now that he is starting his term as the city’s comptroller, he will be taking an NYPD security detail: a move many see as hypocritical.

 Amid the protests that took place after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of members of the Minneapolis Police Department, Lander called for the slashing of $1 billion from the NYPD.

In June, when the city passed its annual spending bill and designated nearly $200 million to improve technology in the police department, the incoming comptroller said the money should instead go to social services, such as housing and mental health care. 

At the time, Lander said he was “disturbed that this agreement increases the NYPD budget by nearly $200 million and increases the headcounts at both NYPD and the Department of Correction.

“All neighborhoods need and deserve to be safe, and we must confront rising levels of gun violence. But NYC already has more police officers per capita than nearly every large American city.”

“[Lander’s] the guy who hates the cops,” a 20-year NYPD veteran told the New York Post. “If you don’t like cops, then don’t use them.”

Public advocate Jumaane Williams, an ally of Lander, who has said that he is running for governor, has also led the local movement to defund the police, yet enjoys an NYPD security detail: and lives on a US military base.

“Crime is at an all-time high, and now you’re going to give them 12 to 14 cops?” the NYPD source asked. “You’ve got to give [those cops] vacation and sick time. All that for these guys, who nobody really knows. Would anyone know them if they were walking down the streets?”

A spokeswoman for Lander responded by arguing that the incoming comptroller’s security detail would not increase spending in the NYPD’s budget and headcount because officers already on the force are already routinely assigned to protect elected officials.

“There’s no contradiction between believing that some of our public safety dollars would be better spent on supportive housing, mental health services, and restorative justice programs: and following longstanding NYPD protocol regarding safety for elected officials,” Lander’s rep, Naomi Dann, told The Post.

Photo: Flickr