The NYPD said its personnel are not deployed on private trips to countries carrying the highest U.S. travel warning.
By Shula Rosen
New York City police officers will not travel with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, when she visits Syria and Lebanon in September.
The NYPD said its personnel are not deployed on private trips to countries carrying the highest U.S. travel warning.
Duwaji is expected to leave for the Middle East on Sept. 20 to visit Syria and Lebanon.
Her parents are Syrian American Muslims originally from Damascus. Both countries are designated “Do Not Travel” destinations by the State Department because of dangerous conditions.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that the mayor’s office had “strongly” recommended assigning NYPD officers to accompany Duwaji.
Asked about the report, Mamdani characterized the situation as a “misunderstanding” but did not explain what security, if any, his wife would have while abroad.
An NYPD spokesperson said departmental policy precluded such an assignment because Duwaji’s travel was unrelated to a police investigation.
“The NYPD does not send officers to countries with Level 4 travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,” the spokesperson said.
The mayor’s office did not provide further information about Duwaji’s itinerary or clarify whether visiting relatives was the only reason for the trip.
A source familiar with the planned travel told the Post that Duwaji would not be carrying out work on behalf of New York City.
The issue comes against the backdrop of Mamdani’s inconsistencies regarding the police department.
During his campaign, he advocated shifting money away from the NYPD and reducing some of its responsibilities. He also criticized police surveillance and accused the department of discriminatory treatment of marginalized communities.
Since taking office, Mamdani has drawn criticism from a different direction over plans to expand the police force. The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization to which Mamdani belongs, opposed his commitment to add 580 NYPD officers.
The DSA said the planned increase “runs counter to the values of the socialist and working-class movement that elected him.”
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