Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is pushing to replace police officers with social workers for responding to 911 calls — but a similar initiative is already running in New York City, and it's struggling. The early results from a program known as B-HEARD are already casting doubt on Mamdani's proposed $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety (DCS).
B-Heard is a flagship initiative that his newly appointed chief of staff and close adviser, Elle Bisgaard-Church, played a key role in shaping. B-HEARD, which began as a pilot in 2021 and operates only in select neighborhoods, has struggled to gain traction. A bleak audit released in May by the city comptroller found it was limping.
Mamdani's Ambitious Project
It shows that 60% of incoming calls weren't even eligible for the service, and more than 35% of the calls that were eligible never received a response from mental health teams.
"Calls were considered potentially dangerous, were ineligible because a mental health professional was already at the scene, or were unable to be triaged because FDNY EMS did not take the call or all necessary information could not be collected about the person in distress," the comptroller's office wrote in a news release at the time.
Between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, B-HEARD fielded 96,291 calls. But only 24,071 of them were answered by a "B-HEARD Team," which is made up of two FDNY officers or EMTs and one social worker.
Despite the program's mixed performance, the proudly socialist mayor-elect wants to expand it dramatically. B-HEARD currently has 18 active teams, but Mamdani is pushing for a 150% funding boost so every New York City neighborhood would have its own response unit — with up to three teams stationed in higher-need areas.
Mamdani Wants to Be Heard
Under his plan, B-HEARD would be folded into the new Department of Community Safety (DCS), which his campaign site describes as an agency designed to "fill the gaps of our programs and services."
"Its mission will be to prevent violence before it happens by taking a public health approach to safety," the document reads.
Right now, B-HEARD teams only operate in a handful of areas — The Bronx, Upper Manhattan, central Brooklyn and a small section of northwest Queens. According to experts, expanding the program across all five boroughs would require a huge boost in staffing and resources.
The new Department of Community Safety (DCS) would be an expensive undertaking. The city would fold B-HEARD and similar programs into it, using about $605 million in existing funds and then trying to secure another $455 million on top of that.
Mamdani's proposal has drawn sharp criticism from law enforcement groups, who argue the plan could put both callers and responders at risk instead of keeping them safe.
