August 12, 2025 • 7 mins
Washington, D.C. is already starting to get cleaned up from the crime that has been rampant. New York City may be Trump’s next target, and Michael Sapricaone joins Mendte In the Morning to analyze what will happen.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's talk about the federal takeover of Washington, d C.
For mainly crime purposes, but also to clean up the streets,
and the possibility that New York may be next. We're
going to talk about that with Michael Sapracone. He ran
for a US Senate. He is a retired NYPD first
grade detective and a security expert, and we love to
(00:22):
turn to him at times like this. Michael, thanks so
much for taking some time to talk to us today.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, good morning, Larry. Great to be here in some
interesting topics today, though, I think, yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
I'm sorry, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
No, I was going to ask you about what you're
just about to answer. I'm sure, so please, what were
you going to say?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think it's amazing, you know, I think what President
Trump did is the right thing, even though the same
crime and major crimes are going down in DC and
certainly here in New York City. It's a perception of
what crime is like when people walk the streets, right,
And the president is a leader, and he he's a businessman, Okay,
so he's used to be able to see a situation
(01:05):
and say, okay, we have to do something about this.
Let's do something about it. Now, where a lot of
politicians over the years on both sides of the aisle,
we'll say, well, we have to work this out. As
a hard bureocracy has to go on, we have to
deal with different things to get something done. He's used
to saying, I'm a boss. Things need to get done.
Let's see what we have to do. There's no question
(01:25):
that perception is the biggest thing in the world. To
people who want to walk through Washington, DC, or downtown
New York or any city in this country. You want
to feel safe, you want your streets to be clean,
and you want to know it's a safe place to
bring your children up.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, but the fact that crime has gone down, you know,
some of that is a little fishy. First of all,
it came there's still fourth in the country when it
comes to a homicide rate, and it dropped down from
obscene to terrible. And also you're talking about adult crime.
Juvenile crime wasn't even in on that. So it is
still a very very dangerous place. And I was really
(02:05):
taken Michael by the mayor when she got up there
because she didn't blast Donald Trump the way that some
people do in that position because she's thinking to herself,
I'm gonna get all this law enforcement help and federal funding,
you know, bring it on.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, and she was right to do that. Her biggest
thing was it's unsettling. Well, so many things are unsettling
to people when we start to put these changes into effect.
I mean, keep in mind, it was a three year
old girl, a young girl killed on fourth of July
weekend in DC. There's a news reporter from a major
network who said that she had been mugged over the
(02:44):
last two years, two blocks away from our own God
and her colleagues have had their cause. So onn Okay,
just where they had a protest yesterday, a person was
killed right where the protest was, I believe, the night before.
So these are not We're still living in field in
these cities, and a city like Washington, this is the
capital of our country. You should be able to drive in,
(03:05):
or fly in, or take a train into Washington, d C.
And see a beautiful, safe place to go. And that's
not the case. Yeah, I don't know what the big
deal is.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Remember we had the National Guard in our subways for
a while and it worked. I think it's actually a
great idea. If it wasn't Donald Trump, they'd probably love
the idea, because when it was Kathy Hochel doing it here,
they seem to love the idea. What do you think
about this coming to New York next?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Is? Would you welcome that? Well? I don't think it's
gonna come here. I think the President loved to say
since he was born and raised in New York, he
must have some kind of home rule war, but that's
not the case here in New York. I don't think
it will come to that here in the City of
New York. I think if we elect a new mayor
when we do, when we elect a mayor in November,
(03:54):
if that mayor doesn't get into line, then I think
you'll see the President do something like this to show
that the rangth and that New York can come back
and be a great place of safe city. But I
don't think it's gonna happen tomorrow. I think the Police
Commission has done a great job here in New York City.
I think she's a great commissioner. I think she does
(04:14):
a fine job. But it's perception, and it's people taking
the subway, people walking down the street. People are afraid
and like you said, major crimes have gone down, but
little crimes have not. I mean shoplifting, caught that, repetitlosities, assaults,
these are all up, they're not down. You may see
murdered down and shooting down. And you know when when
(04:36):
when you see a lot of shootings and less murders.
My old good friend and my old one of my
old boyses Deputy Commissioner of Maple used to always say,
the only reason it wasn't a homicide is because the
guy was a bad shot. And that's very true. You know,
you see a lot of crimes that could be worse,
uh in this city because people were just bad shots.
A lot of shootings always gone on in the city,
(04:57):
a lot of shootings in d C. I think police
do a great job here. I think it was a
great deterrent when the governor put the National Guard in
the subways. I think people felt more comfortable. And that's
what it's about, Larry. You have to feel comfortable going
to work every day. Yep. You know, in my job
as a security when I owned a security company, people
(05:18):
would hire you to protect their assets and I would
always say, you need to protect your employees. They're as
big as asset as you have anywhere. Well, what do
you think?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I just want to ask you quickly about Zorimum, Donnie,
what do you think about his proposal to send out
social workers on some domestic disputes and even on car
stops and not the police.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, ridiculous. I mean I've been on many of those domestics.
That's the most dangerous thing a police officer, by the way,
responds to us. And they taught us that back in
the academy in nineteen eighty when I went there. It's
the most serious situation, the most dangerous situation for a
poor enforcement officer to respond to a domestic situation because
you don't know how that's going to turn. Because when
(06:03):
you put handcuffs on that man and tell his wife
who are taking him away because he beat her, all
of a sudden, she turns on you and says, because
she realizes that's my only source of income, that's the
person to take care of me and my family. I
may have been annoyed right now, but I need that
person here tomorrow. And then she turns on you, or
vice versa. Be a woman you're taking into custody and
(06:23):
the male partner. So always a scary situation. I can't
imagine a social worker doing it. Being there for a
car stop. I mean, half the time you can't see
into the car. Every time you walk up to a
car with darkened windows and closed windows, you're taking your life.
You're putting your life in your hands, saying, oh my god,
(06:43):
what's going to happen. Now, we're trained to do that
as police officers. We understand how to respond to things
like that and how to think on our feet. And
social work is a great and a very important part
of our life and our world in a society. But
they're not trained in that same way with police officers,
trained to kind of be social workers, law enforcement people.
You're best friends, you know your doctor, you are psychiatrists.
(07:07):
We're kind of trained in everything from everyday situations. I
think it's a terrible idea. I think it's it's good.
I don't think it will ever happen. I don't think
the city will ever let that happen, because you're going
to see a terrible situation happen if that was to begin.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, I agree with you, and I can't imagine the
NYPD are happy about the fact that he's leading in
the polls right now, but we'll talk about that next time.
Michael Sapracone ran for US Senate New York. Retired NYPD
first grade detective security expert, and most importantly, he's great
when we have him on, and then we really appreciate that. Michael,
thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Oh thanks are thanks for having me
Now let's talk about the federal takeover of Washington, d C.
For mainly crime purposes, but also to clean up the streets,
and the possibility that New York may be next. We're
going to talk about that with Michael Sapracone. He ran
for a US Senate. He is a retired NYPD first
grade detective and a security expert, and we love to
(00:22):
turn to him at times like this. Michael, thanks so
much for taking some time to talk to us today.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, good morning, Larry. Great to be here in some
interesting topics today, though, I think, yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
I'm sorry, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
No, I was going to ask you about what you're
just about to answer. I'm sure, so please, what were
you going to say?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think it's amazing, you know, I think what President
Trump did is the right thing, even though the same
crime and major crimes are going down in DC and
certainly here in New York City. It's a perception of
what crime is like when people walk the streets, right,
And the president is a leader, and he he's a businessman, Okay,
so he's used to be able to see a situation
(01:05):
and say, okay, we have to do something about this.
Let's do something about it. Now, where a lot of
politicians over the years on both sides of the aisle,
we'll say, well, we have to work this out. As
a hard bureocracy has to go on, we have to
deal with different things to get something done. He's used
to saying, I'm a boss. Things need to get done.
Let's see what we have to do. There's no question
(01:25):
that perception is the biggest thing in the world. To
people who want to walk through Washington, DC, or downtown
New York or any city in this country. You want
to feel safe, you want your streets to be clean,
and you want to know it's a safe place to
bring your children up.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, but the fact that crime has gone down, you know,
some of that is a little fishy. First of all,
it came there's still fourth in the country when it
comes to a homicide rate, and it dropped down from
obscene to terrible. And also you're talking about adult crime.
Juvenile crime wasn't even in on that. So it is
still a very very dangerous place. And I was really
(02:05):
taken Michael by the mayor when she got up there
because she didn't blast Donald Trump the way that some
people do in that position because she's thinking to herself,
I'm gonna get all this law enforcement help and federal funding,
you know, bring it on.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, and she was right to do that. Her biggest
thing was it's unsettling. Well, so many things are unsettling
to people when we start to put these changes into effect.
I mean, keep in mind, it was a three year
old girl, a young girl killed on fourth of July
weekend in DC. There's a news reporter from a major
network who said that she had been mugged over the
(02:44):
last two years, two blocks away from our own God
and her colleagues have had their cause. So onn Okay,
just where they had a protest yesterday, a person was
killed right where the protest was, I believe, the night before.
So these are not We're still living in field in
these cities, and a city like Washington, this is the
capital of our country. You should be able to drive in,
(03:05):
or fly in, or take a train into Washington, d C.
And see a beautiful, safe place to go. And that's
not the case. Yeah, I don't know what the big
deal is.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Remember we had the National Guard in our subways for
a while and it worked. I think it's actually a
great idea. If it wasn't Donald Trump, they'd probably love
the idea, because when it was Kathy Hochel doing it here,
they seem to love the idea. What do you think
about this coming to New York next?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Is? Would you welcome that? Well? I don't think it's
gonna come here. I think the President loved to say
since he was born and raised in New York, he
must have some kind of home rule war, but that's
not the case here in New York. I don't think
it will come to that here in the City of
New York. I think if we elect a new mayor
when we do, when we elect a mayor in November,
(03:54):
if that mayor doesn't get into line, then I think
you'll see the President do something like this to show
that the rangth and that New York can come back
and be a great place of safe city. But I
don't think it's gonna happen tomorrow. I think the Police
Commission has done a great job here in New York City.
I think she's a great commissioner. I think she does
(04:14):
a fine job. But it's perception, and it's people taking
the subway, people walking down the street. People are afraid
and like you said, major crimes have gone down, but
little crimes have not. I mean shoplifting, caught that, repetitlosities, assaults,
these are all up, they're not down. You may see
murdered down and shooting down. And you know when when
(04:36):
when you see a lot of shootings and less murders.
My old good friend and my old one of my
old boyses Deputy Commissioner of Maple used to always say,
the only reason it wasn't a homicide is because the
guy was a bad shot. And that's very true. You know,
you see a lot of crimes that could be worse,
uh in this city because people were just bad shots.
A lot of shootings always gone on in the city,
(04:57):
a lot of shootings in d C. I think police
do a great job here. I think it was a
great deterrent when the governor put the National Guard in
the subways. I think people felt more comfortable. And that's
what it's about, Larry. You have to feel comfortable going
to work every day. Yep. You know, in my job
as a security when I owned a security company, people
(05:18):
would hire you to protect their assets and I would
always say, you need to protect your employees. They're as
big as asset as you have anywhere. Well, what do
you think?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I just want to ask you quickly about Zorimum, Donnie,
what do you think about his proposal to send out
social workers on some domestic disputes and even on car
stops and not the police.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, ridiculous. I mean I've been on many of those domestics.
That's the most dangerous thing a police officer, by the way,
responds to us. And they taught us that back in
the academy in nineteen eighty when I went there. It's
the most serious situation, the most dangerous situation for a
poor enforcement officer to respond to a domestic situation because
you don't know how that's going to turn. Because when
(06:03):
you put handcuffs on that man and tell his wife
who are taking him away because he beat her, all
of a sudden, she turns on you and says, because
she realizes that's my only source of income, that's the
person to take care of me and my family. I
may have been annoyed right now, but I need that
person here tomorrow. And then she turns on you, or
vice versa. Be a woman you're taking into custody and
(06:23):
the male partner. So always a scary situation. I can't
imagine a social worker doing it. Being there for a
car stop. I mean, half the time you can't see
into the car. Every time you walk up to a
car with darkened windows and closed windows, you're taking your life.
You're putting your life in your hands, saying, oh my god,
(06:43):
what's going to happen. Now, we're trained to do that
as police officers. We understand how to respond to things
like that and how to think on our feet. And
social work is a great and a very important part
of our life and our world in a society. But
they're not trained in that same way with police officers,
trained to kind of be social workers, law enforcement people.
You're best friends, you know your doctor, you are psychiatrists.
(07:07):
We're kind of trained in everything from everyday situations. I
think it's a terrible idea. I think it's it's good.
I don't think it will ever happen. I don't think
the city will ever let that happen, because you're going
to see a terrible situation happen if that was to begin.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Yeah, I agree with you, and I can't imagine the
NYPD are happy about the fact that he's leading in
the polls right now, but we'll talk about that next time.
Michael Sapracone ran for US Senate New York. Retired NYPD
first grade detective security expert, and most importantly, he's great
when we have him on, and then we really appreciate that. Michael,
thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Oh thanks are thanks for having me
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