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Zohran Mamdani Adds Alex Vitale to Community Safety Committee, Renewing Debate Over Police Reform

Zohran Mamdani has named Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing, to his community safety transition committee as part of a larger slate of roughly 400 appointees. Vitale, a Brooklyn College sociology professor, argues that policing’s authorization of force is inherently problematic and has advocated redirecting some police funds to social services. Elena Leopold, the transition director, previously backed a $1 billion cut to NYPD funding. Mamdani has since said he will keep the NYPD at about 35,000 officers and has stated he will not defund the police.

05:02 AM, 11/26/2025Politics
Zohran Mamdani Adds Alex Vitale to Community Safety Committee, Renewing Debate Over Police Reform

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed Alex Vitale, the author of The End of Policing and a prominent critic of modern policing, to his community safety transition committee. Vitale is one of roughly 400 people added to Mamdani’s transition effort as the incoming administration prepares policy recommendations on public safety and social services.

Who is Alex Vitale?

Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College, has argued that policing’s unique authorization to use force makes it fundamentally problematic and that policing has long helped reproduce inequality along lines of race, class, gender and sexuality. In a 2021 interview he described police officers as "violence workers," a characterization intended to underscore the role of force in policing and to argue that policing should be a last resort.

"That’s what distinguishes police from other government workers. It’s that authorization and capacity to use violence. That’s what undergirds police authority... and that policing should always be the tool of absolute last resort."

In his 2017 book, Vitale contends that the problem is policing itself rather than individual officers’ training, tactics or demographics. He has repeatedly called for redirecting portions of police budgets toward social services, writing and saying that cities should invest more in social workers, mental-health professionals and community-based programs rather than relying on police to meet social-service needs.

Context on Mamdani’s transition team and policy stance

Elena Leopold, the transition team’s executive director, has also supported reductions in police funding in the past: she signed a 2020 open letter urging then-mayor Bill de Blasio to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget. Those appointments have drawn attention because they highlight differing views on public safety within Mamdani’s circle.

Despite those signals from members of his transition team, Mamdani recently told President Donald Trump during a private meeting that he plans to keep the NYPD headcount at about 35,000 officers. The mayor-elect previously expressed support for defunding the police in 2020 but publicly reversed that position this year, stating, "I will not defund the police."

As Mamdani’s team develops recommendations for community safety, the inclusion of voices such as Vitale’s suggests the administration may consider a wider range of approaches to public safety funding and services — from maintaining police capacity to emphasizing alternatives like social work, crisis response teams and community-based investments.

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