Trump’s distant but ever-present impact on NYC public safety

What does a red electoral map mean for the men and women in blue? And local public safety in general?

President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 victory could spell the return of the known police proponent to the White House, said Jill Snider, an ex-NYPD officer-turned policy director at R Street Institute and adjunct lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Yet his impact remains largely symbolic given the limits to federal power over local and state law enforcement.

“Historically, I have never seen a president have that much of an impact on city agencies and the way in which they operate,” Snider said. “But when you have a sitting president that comes out regularly speaking in a way that seems supportive of the first responders and law enforcement, that has a trickle down effect to the community, to the people who are watching the news and listening to local and national politics.”

She said such support can benefit the NYPD’s morale issues with retention and recruitment, as nearly 3,000 officers quit last year according to the Police Benevolent Association. Trump’s support of city police extends past his last term, most notably when he attended the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller this past March…

“From a public safety angle, I think that he’s going to prioritize those cities that most people in this country a week ago would have thought voted blue,” said Snider. “But voters and citizens are understanding that they live in these communities. They care about their safety, they perceive that their safety is at risk, and they felt more confident that having a Republican in the White House would make them safer.”

Snider believes even with Vice President Kamala Harris’s prosecutorial background, public safety in big cities like New York was not addressed enough during her campaign and during the Biden presidency. Still, she is unsure how accurate those anxieties are given NYPD crime stats typically show steady reductions. But she said discounting public safety fears cannot be discounted by electeds even if numbers say otherwise.

“It’s going to take a lot to get certain policymakers to be more attuned to what the statistics show us, but what they are trying to address is how the public feels about crime, and that’s important, especially when you are someone who’s running for public office,” added Snider. “You care about what your constituents think and how they feel, not necessarily what the numbers reflect — they have to take that into consideration too, and be promoting to their constituents with what’s really going on.”

That is not to say Trump is entirely for expanding the carceral system and opposing criminal justice reform. Snider points to the First Step Act, which reduced the federal prison population and focused on reentry efforts.