SAVE NEW YORK POLICY

New Yorkers and businesses are fleeing the Empire State because our quality of life is under assault. Andrew can turn around the unprecedented three-year spike in violent crime by empowering fully-staffed and fully-funded police forces around the state. 

Over the last year, there has been a national push to “defund the police” with the empirically unsupported idea that the police are systemically racist. This vitriol toward our law enforcement officers is dangerous not only for our police officers but for the New Yorkers who depend on local law enforcement to defend their neighborhoods from criminal activity. 

In practice, proactive policing is verifiable as one of the most effective ways to protect a neighborhood. Crimes are less likely to happen in a neighborhood where potential criminals know the police are present, active, and vigilant. Andrew is a firm believer that ending the war on cops is vital to restoring law and order in New York State.

Andrew understands that for law enforcement officers to effectively do their difficult job day after day, we must preserve their qualified immunity. Weeks before Andrew announced his candidacy, the New York City Council continued its war on police and passed legislation to strip police officers of their federally-protected immunity. 

This creates the potential for frivolous lawsuits and hesitancy within the police department to enforce the law effectively, thus making the streets more dangerous for law-abiding citizens. How can we expect police officers to respond to incidents, put themselves in danger, and make split-second decisions to protect themselves and New Yorkers without qualified immunity? It’s time to restore that protection to New York’s Finest.