Incoming New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is taking a security detail despite advocating to "defund" the department, according to reports.

Lander will receive a police detail, but just months ago, he announced his opposition to the 2022 fiscal budget because it increased the New York Police Department's budget by nearly $200 million.

"I'm also disturbed that this agreement increases the NYPD budget by nearly $200 million and increases head count at both NYPD and the Department of Corrections," he said while serving on the City Council in June. "All neighborhoods need and deserve to be safe, and we must confront rising levels of gun violence. But New York City already has more police officers per capita than nearly every large American city."

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Lander suggested funding should have been redirected from the NYPD toward social services and community programs. He also expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in the budget in general.

In 2020, Lander wrote an open letter discussing his commitment to defunding the NYPD and cutting $1 billion from the police budget that year.

Lander faced term limits for his District 39 City Council seat and won his race for city comptroller, succeeding failed mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, in November. His candidacy won support from high-profile left-wing figures, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

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New York City has faced an uptick in crime amid a national crime surge in cities across the country. There have been 100,730 total crime complaints in 2021 for the period up to Sunday, a year-to-date increase from the 94,916 year-to-date complaints in 2020, according to the NYPD. The city has reported 479 murders and 13,575 robberies in 2021, up from 460 murders and 12,963 robberies up to the same date in 2020.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Lander for comment but did not receive a response.