Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to reassure residents of the country’s capital, adding that there is no need to deploy the National Guard.
DC residents question the need for the National Guard amid low crime rates
Washington, D.C. residents expressed concern over the arrival of the National Guard, questioned the need for it, and viewed it as a political overreach.
Washington, D.C., a member of the National Guard, reported missions across the nation’s capitals under an order to combat President Donald Trump’s crimes on August 12th and reduce homelessness in the city.
Among those deployed were members of the 273rd military police company, security guards. The commander shared the image on social media for the armored Humvee parked next to the Washington Memorial. Trump has hired 800 security guards to work, but not all are unfolding yet.
Trump’s decision to deploy the military has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats across the country. He said the move raises public concern at a time when DC crime is declining.
“We’re regaining capital,” Trump said on August 11th. “We’re getting it back.”
Because DC is under federal control, the president has the authority to call the National Guard and ordered the city’s metropolitan police station to be under the control of the Department of Justice. Mayor Muriel Bowser attempted to reassure residents, saying that violent crime remains a problem within the city, but there is no need to deploy the National Guard.
“D.C.’s violent crime is at the lowest level in 30 years. We changed our laws and strategies due to unacceptable spikes in 2023,” she said at a televised community meeting on August 12.
“Physical Being” on DC Street
Bowser said Trump called for security guards for illegal enforcement purposes and showed he would work in an aid role in supporting law enforcement officials. White House officials said that one would either be a troop of 100 to 200 people, which provide administrative and logistical support, primarily supporting law enforcement, along with “physical beings” on the streets.
“We’ll keep watching that,” Bowser said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses said it would take some time for all 800 security guards to move to their city locations.
“You’ll see them flowing onto the streets of Washington in the coming weeks,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegses said at an August 12 press conference. “They’ll be stronger. They’ll be tough.”
Advocates for the homeless people worried that the decision to send the president’s army would make life even more difficult for the roughly 900 people living on the streets of the city.
“We’re going to remove homeless camps from beautiful parks. Many people can’t walk now,” Trump told reporters on August 11, adding that his administration is “removing people from underground passages and public spaces.”
In a statement, the National Center for Homelessness Law said stricter enforcement would do nothing to resolve homelessness.
“Arresting or issuing ticketing people to sleep outside will exacerbate homelessness, waste taxpayer money and simply won’t work,” spokesman Jesse Rabinowitz said. “The solution to homelessness is not handcuffs or prisons, but housing and support.”
Longtime DC mayor answers questions from city residents
Bowser, the city’s leader since 2015, held a virtual sit-in with the citizens on August 12th, answering questions and easing fear. Some comments from residents include concerns that the National Guard will do nothing to stop the influx of guns from nearby states into cities, and fear that troops roaming the streets will scare elderly and teenagers.
The three-term mayor was standing by an earlier statement that metropolitan police departments oversaw unprecedented reductions in violent crime. But she said she hopes her administration can introduce Trump security deployment into a city’s positive, given the understaffed by hundreds of officers.
“If we were at 3,800 instead of 3,100, then imagine there are a number of MPD executives we should have,” Bowser says. Officers are now approaching their deployment strategy, confirming “how additional federal police officers can help in some areas.”
Bowser city manager Kevin Donohue said the DC aims to keep security guards near national monuments where people are used to seeing the troops, and would try to attend Metro police wherever the troops are deployed to give the troops a more accessible face.
Staff said the biggest part of the surge, potentially hundreds of federal forces, occurs overnight when many residents are indoors.
