Defund the Police? NYC Mayoral Candidates Now Want to Hire More Officers.

Of the various left-leaning candidates in the New York City mayor’s race, Zellnor Myrie would seem to have unquestionable credentials as a champion of criminal justice reform.

Mr. Myrie, a Democratic state senator from Brooklyn, sponsored the Clean Slate Act, a sweeping legislative initiative in 2023 that sealed the criminal records of more than two million people convicted of crimes in New York.

But with public safety a resounding concern among New York City voters, Mr. Myrie, 38, is clearly willing to consider different approaches.

On Wednesday, he released a public safety plan that calls for hiring more than 3,000 police officers and increasing the ranks of detectives by 2,000 through promotions.

The hiring spree would return the department, which currently has 33,500 officers, to its highest head count in six years, and would enable the city to reduce excessive police overtime, solve more shootings and help subway riders feel safer, according to a copy of the plan provided to The New York Times.

Mr. Myrie’s proposal, just a few years removed from widespread calls to reduce police funding following the police killing of George Floyd, reflects the way crime and the perception of public safety remain among the top issues in the June Democratic primary.