Make the NYPD Gang Database a Tool for Safety, Not Harm
David R. Jones, La Nueva Mayoria / The New Majority
New York City faces the challenge of keeping communities safe while upholding the rights and dignity of the people who call this city home. Public safety and justice should not be competing goals. Yet the current use of the New York Police Department’s gang database risks undermining both.
As it stands, the database operates with too little transparency, too few safeguards, and too many unanswered questions. Thousands of New Yorkers, disproportionately Black and Latino youth, are included in this system, often without their knowledge, without being charged with a crime, and without a meaningful way to challenge their inclusion. The consequences are real and lasting: increased surveillance, barriers to housing and employment, and, in some cases, devastating impacts on immigration status.
Across the country, we have seen the tragic consequences of people being deported and imprisoned after tattoos were misinterpreted as gang symbols, despite having no criminal record. Consider the case of Neri José Alvarado Borges, a young asylum seeker who was deported to El Salvador and sent to a maximum-security prison not because he committed a crime, but because immigration officials misinterpreted an autism awareness tattoo as evidence of gang affiliation. He had no criminal record. His family and employer described him as a hardworking young man trying to build a life. Yet a subjective judgment about his appearance was enough to strip him of his freedom.
The concerns about the NYPD gang database are not new. In 2023, the Department of Investigation’s Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD issued a sweeping report identifying serious flaws in the database, including vague criteria for inclusion and a troubling lack of public transparency. The report put forward 17 recommendations for reform. A follow-up review released in 2025 found that only some reforms had been fully implemented, with others only partially completed. It also documented ongoing compliance failures, including the department’s failure to implement a multi-level review process to validate or renew entries.
As a candidate, Mayor Zohran Mamdani was against the NYPD gang database. He has recently expressed openness to its use if reforms are implemented. I strongly support this approach. When used responsibly, data can help law enforcement focus resources, prevent violence, and save lives. But the legitimacy of any such tool depends on public trust, and trust cannot exist without transparency and fairness.
The 2025 follow-up report makes clear that the most consequential reforms—those involving transparency, due process, and independent oversight—remain only partially implemented or not implemented at all. The City must commit to fully implementing all of the Inspector General’s recommendations, and doing so with complete transparency.
First and foremost, the criteria for inclusion must be publicly defined, narrowly tailored, and based on credible evidence—not vague associations, social media activity, or subjective interpretation. No young person’s future should be jeopardized because of who they know, what they wear, or how they express themselves.
Second, individuals must be notified if they are added to the database and given a meaningful opportunity to challenge that designation. Due process is not optional, it is a cornerstone of our legal system.
Finally, there must be regular, independent audits to ensure the database is accurate, up-to-date, and free from racial bias.
Reform is not about weakening public safety. It is about strengthening it. A system that is perceived as unjust will not earn the cooperation of the communities most affected by violence. A system that casts too wide a net will dilute its effectiveness. And a system that lacks accountability will ultimately fail.
The Mayor has an opportunity to ensure that the NYPD gang database becomes what it should be: a precise, fair, and transparent tool that helps keep New Yorkers safe without unfairly targeting innocent young people or derailing their futures.
David R. Jones, Esq., is President and CEO of the Community Service Society (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years, and a member of the MTA Board. The views in this column are solely those of the writer. The New Majority is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.