Originally Posted by Inisfallen

The mayor is well aware of the situation. But he's a lame duck now, so he probably doesn't care.

He lost control of the police department long ago. Some of the fault is his, but to be fair, the New York City Police Department considers itself to be an entity apart, not answerable to anyone other than the Chief of Police and the PBA union president (and also the Sergeant's Benevolent Association, and the other unions representing officers and detectives). They don't even consider themselves answerable to the Commissioner of Police, since he's a political appointee, not a police officer (although the department certainly believes itself, wrongly, to have veto power over the appointment of the commissioner).

The department has basically stopped all law enforcement in the city. Part of the problem is political -- NYC is a fairly liberal Democratic city, and the rank and file of the department, by and large, are not liberal Democrats. Their union endorsed Donald Trump for president. They demonstrate their support for Trump by refusing to comply with the city's mass transit mask requirement, and reacting aggressively and sometimes with physical force when, on those rare occasions when they're seen on mass transit, asked by riders to wear masks. They are currently refusing to comply with the city's vaccine mandate for all city employees.

The vast majority of them do not live in New York City, and thus have no interest in the health of the city as long as it's solvent enough to cover their paychecks. I believe that a majority of officers have never in their lives lived in New York City, which is seriously not a good thing.

They basically detest the people of New York City, the poor and the rich alike (although they detest the poor and rich in different ways, of course).

Another part of it is that they're having a hissy fit about the nationwide protests after the death of George Floyd, so they've withdrawn from policing the city. They're like a little kid taking his ball and going home because he got a bad call in the game.

It's a mess right now. Beyond obviously, a police department that does not consider itself answerable to the elected officials and legislature governing the city they're supposed to be policing is unacceptable. It's banana republic nonsense.