The NYPD officers who support Zohran Mamdani for mayor

On Monday, a mass shooting in midtown Manhattan killed four people, including New York City Police Department Officer Didarul Islam, a 36-year-old Bangladeshi American immigrant working an off-duty detail to support his wife and two children. While praising Islam for his sacrifice, both Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo have used the tragedy to attack Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani. 

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has not called for increasing the headcount of the NYPD and he previously tweeted harsh criticism of the NYPD and calls to defund the department, though he has since said that those tweets do not reflect his current views. He has also proposed an ambitious public safety overhaul – including the elimination of the Strategic Response Group, a unit that has repeatedly been accused of using excessive force to suppress protests, and the creation of a new Department of Community Safety that could respond to mental health calls. 

Earlier this month, a coalition of 13 law enforcement and uniformed officer unions backed the incumbent mayor. Though the city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, hasn’t weighed in on the mayor’s race yet, Adams, a former cop, is saying he is the law enforcement candidate. Cuomo, who is running against Mamdani for mayor, has said that the killing of Islam highlights the flaws of a progressive policing platform like Mamdani’s.

But retired NYPD Lieutenant Commander Shamsul Haque does not agree. Haque, who recently left the force after 21 years of service, co-founded the Bangladeshi American Police Association and helped blaze the trail for other Bangladeshi immigrants in the NYPD, like Islam. He estimates that there are now 900 to 1,000 Bangladeshi American officers in the NYPD, plus another 1,500 to 1,600 who serve as traffic cops and school safety officers. And Haque, who appeared with Mamdani during his first public address after the shooting, believes many of those officers, along with non-Bangladeshi Muslim officers, will end up voting for Mamdani in November.

On the night before Islam’s funeral, City & State spoke with Haque about the midtown shooting, the relationship between the Bangladeshi American community and the NYPD and Mamdani’s proposed reforms to the police department. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why did you decide to join the NYPD?

I was a student leader during 9/11. I was campaigning for (former Queens) Borough President Helen Marshall also, but I was the head of the student body for the City University of New York in between 2002 and 2003 so I served as a CUNY trustee ex officio. But then, because of what happened during 9/11, I felt that people like me should not go into the computer field but rather serve New York City, which we call our home and we love New York City.

So this is one reason why I joined (the NYPD) and maybe about five or six of us joined at the same time. We wanted to join NYPD to dispel a misconception that being a Muslim is somehow connected with extremism or terrorism. This is not the case, because the way I was raised, my family raised me, my religion raised me not to be violent.

What was it like when you started the Bangladeshi American Police Association?

After I joined, in every class, there were about three to five (Bangladeshi) people who were joining. In 2015, I called several of my friends to come to my house, and we had a meeting, and we decided to open up the Bangladeshi American Police Association. The goal was threefold. One is to recruit Bangladeshi officers into the NYPD and to help them to pass the (entrance) exam, because some of them don't know how the exams are being placed. The second goal was to help officers to take the promotional exams. By that time, I was already a lieutenant, so I knew how the exams are and how to study for them, so we could help officers to become sergeants and lieutenants and captains. Finally, the goal was to bridge that gap between NYPD and the community, because for lots of Bangladeshis who recently immigrate to United States, they have a bad perception of the police department in Bangladesh, because they are usually corrupt.

So Bangladeshi immigrants might naturally be skeptical of the police at first, but many of them have since come to appreciate the NYPD?

Yes, they're very proud that we are joining the law enforcement and serving New York City. Everywhere we go, we often get praised by our community members, and they express how proud they are to see us serving the city.

When Donald Trump was becoming president in 2016, there was this real fear within the community. You know, “hey, what's going to happen?” So the Bangladeshi American Police Association held a few different town hall meetings with the community leaders and the commissioners to bridge the gap between the department and Bangladeshi community. During this process, what happened is that lots of people, lots of new Bangladeshis, started to encourage their sons and daughters to join the NYPD, because they feel very proud of seeing their sons or daughters joining the NYPD. So when we talk about Officer Didarul Islam, he's an example where he was inspired by seeing all of us joining the department, and he joined, he wanted to serve.

You appeared with mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani at an event on Wednesday. Why are you supporting Mamdani?

I'm supporting Zohran because I believe that when the police department was set up a very, very long time ago, it was designed in a way to police the system. But they kept doing the same exact thing. It has not made any significant moves in terms of innovations. I mean, I'm not talking about technological innovations. I'm talking about strategic innovations.

So just to give you some examples, you know, when officers respond and they don't feel like they should respond: We often receive calls like an ambulance case where medical emergencies are happening, but police are told to respond there as well, but it should be handled by the EMS. Oftentimes, stores have fire alarms and then NYPD has to respond directly there for fire alarms. I mean, it should be FDNY, not with the NYPD. There are certain cases of traffic and parking conditions. There are certain cases of disorderly persons, you know, where NYPD doesn't have to respond.

You’re not concerned he would defund the NYPD?

What I like about Zohran’s campaign is that he is not going to defund the police department. Whatever the statement he made five years ago, you know, it is what it is. But I've seen his entire plan and he's not talking about defunding the police department. I like him bringing resources and finances for a new community safety plan where they will specifically deal with emotionally disturbed people, nonviolent ones. (There is) lots of homelessness in New York City, and the new department would be handling them. It's not a police officer’s job to do that. So that's a reason why I'm supporting Zohran.

Mayor Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo have suggested that the shooting of Officer Islam will lead people to stop supporting Zohran, due to increased concerns about public safety. Do you think that’s the case?

I don't believe that is the case. Let me just say regarding the shooting: NYPD trains us to identify the threats first, and when we have confirmed that the threat is there, then it takes about three seconds for us to pull out the gun and discharge and neutralize the subject. In this case, I firmly believe that Officer Islam had no chance, and this could not be prevented by any strategy or anything that Cuomo or Eric Adams or anybody else says. Yes, of course, they will politicize the whole thing, but I don't believe that it will decrease support for Zohran Mamdani.

It did not happen under Zohran! It happened under Mayor Eric Adams. Sorry to say that, I mean, but it’s just hypocrisy. It's outrageous.

After the shooting, Adams specifically criticized Mamdani for wanting to eliminate the Strategic Response Group. Do you agree with Mamdani that SRG should be eliminated and replaced with something else?

I believe yes, and I'll tell you why, because you have the strategic response team to go to shooting incidents or (when) really, really high-profile crimes are happening or something. But the strategic response team has been used to tame some of the protests. You know, the foundation of American ideals is freedom of speech. People have the ability to express themselves, and when you have a heavy-handed presence from the police department, I mean, it's just not going to look good. It does not look good, and it should not be there.

The ESU, Emergency Service Unit (the NYPD equivalent of a SWAT team), already exists. So the new team can be composed of various units who have specialized training and experience to deal with situations where, let’s say, a hostage has been taken or shooting incidents or terrorism incidents, but that can be designed the way that Zohran Mamdani likes.

Some have suggested that NYPD officers may show their opposition to Mamdani at Officer Islam’s funeral, just as NYPD officers infamously turned their backs to Mayor Bill de Blasio a few years ago during a police funeral. What do you think?

I'm not certain. Obviously, there might be some officers who might do it, but I think those of Bangladeshi descent would not do it. They hear Zohran. They listen to how he speaks. It is very, very respectful. He explains what he's trying to do, and I think the majority of the officers do understand what he's talking about.

Is there a lot of support for Mamdani among Bangladeshi and Muslim officers?

I would say about 60%, 70% of them are going to support Zohran for his election.

Would having a mayor who is a Muslim and an immigrant be good for Muslim and Bangladeshi officers? Will it lead to them gaining more recognition and being promoted within the department?

Zohran’s campaign will inspire lots of Muslims to seek elected office and seek other offices or promotions within the NYPD, because they will say “If Zohran can do it, then why can we not?” The same thing happened with NYPD, like when I joined and my friends joined the NYPD, the other Bangladeshis said, “Hey, if Shamsul can become a police officer, then why can I not? “ When I became one of the first few sergeants or lieutenants, you know, they started to look at it like, “Wow, it can be done.” So they started doing the same thing. I believe that Zohran’s campaign will inspire, just like my story will inspire, lots of people.