Senior Advisor for Public Safety to the First Deputy Mayor
Office of the Mayor, City of New York
As Senior Advisor for Public Safety, Abdul is responsible for advising the First Deputy Mayor on public safety policy, criminal justice reform, and interagency coordination.
Abdul joins the administration from Vital City, where as Chief Policy Officer he led efforts to synthesize and disseminate practical ideas to make New York and other cities safer. He built and led the research and data department at Campaign Zero, developing data-driven policy interventions and solutions focused on harm reduction and supporting public safety comprehensively. Abdul also served in the NYC Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ), where he led research and data efforts for the NYC Police Reform and Reinvention Implementation Taskforce and the NYC Office of Neighborhood Safety.
Prior to his government service, Abdul worked at the Vera Institute of Justice as an applied researcher, where he examined enforcement trends and 911 emergency response, conducted law enforcement agency evaluations, and provided technical assistance to agencies and municipalities on developing comprehensive performance metrics for public safety. Abdul received his PhD in sociology from the University of Oxford, his MPhil from the University of Oxford, and his BA from Hunter College (City University of New York).