There’s no way NYPD cops should put themselves in harm’s way by tagging along with Big Apple first lady Rama Duwaji on a risky “social” trip to the war-torn Middle East, boss of the city’s detective union said.
“This isn’t about politics at all — it’s not about politics,” NYPD Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro said Wednesday. “This is about keeping the New York City detectives safe, out of harm’s way. Let them do their job here in New York City. That’s what they’re here for.
“It’s a no-fly area. It’s a no-go zone,” Munro added. “We are not going there.”
A rep for Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced earlier this week that Duwaji would take her NYPD security detail with her when she travels to visit family in the Middle East next month — only to have police brass shoot down the idea on Tuesday.
A red-faced Mamdani blamed the gaffe on “miscommunication” between City Hall and the NYPD.
Duwaji is scheduled to leave on Sept. 20 for personal trips to Syria and Lebanon, where he has relatives.
But both countries are on the US State Department’s Level 4 “Do Not Travel” list, the nation’s highest security advisory reserved for countries that carry an “extreme risk” of terrorism, civil unrest or crime.
In a statement Tuesday, an NYPD spokesperson said the department “does not send officers to countries with level four travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work.
“This is not an investigative trip, and therefore, NYPD personnel will not be traveling there for it.”
Munro said Wednesday that perhaps the awkward blunder by the Mamdani administration was due to “a lack of communication,” and added that “maybe there’s a lack of experience at City Hall.”
The union boss said the department has “liaisons” overseas — but for police work, not social outings.
“We have a hard enough job here today to do the job here in New York City, with everything going on, with protests, your day-to-day,” he said. “There was no intent for any of our detectives [to go overseas], and I showed that I was very disheartened if that was even going to happen.”
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