California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will send more highway patrol officers in several major regions throughout the state to curb crime amid the threat of Trump’s National Guard intervention.
Trump clashes with Newsom over major city criminal crackdown
President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom continue to clash over approaches to reducing crime in some of the nation’s largest cities.
Fox – Fox 29
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom is deploying more California Highway Patrol officers in key areas of the state to combat crime with local police.
- Newsom said the development is not a response to President Trump’s threat of expanding existing partnerships between state and local law enforcement and sending National Guard to democratically-led cities.
- Newsom criticizes Trump’s actions and calls them authoritarian and hypocritical.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will send more highway patrol officers to several major cities in the state to curb crime amid the threat of President Trump’s National Guard intervention.
On August 28, Newsom announced that CHP’s “Crime Control” team will partner with law enforcement in six cities and regions in California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, the Central Valley and parts of Inland Empire.
In some cases, the state’s strategy of using state executives is an extension of long-standing current partnerships with cities such as San Francisco, Oakland and Bakersfield, helping to crack down on drug deals, carjacking, armed robbery and retail theft.
Newsom has successfully partnered, adding that the state has spent $1.7 billion on the initiative, resulting in more than 9,000 arrests statewide since 2019.
“(We’re) building on the success of this proven program,” Newsom said in a briefing with a Sacramento reporter on August 28th. “The issue of crime reduction is an important issue, but I want to clarify this crystal.
Newsom’s announcement comes as President Donald Trump is considering sending National Guard to major cities across the country, including Chicago, to fight crime. The president also threatened to send troops to California cities, including Oakland and San Francisco.
Earlier this month, Trump sent his troops to Washington, DC. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the federal deployment helped reduce crime, but she said the constant presence of military and immigration agents has caused fear and anxiety among residents.
Newsom has repeatedly refused that his announcement about a highway patrol partnership with local police responds to Trump’s actions and is based on public safety efforts since the governor began in 2019, which accelerated in 2023.
“When state and local communities work together strategically, public safety will improve,” Newsom said. “While the Trump administration is weakening cities, California has partnered with them and offers real results. With these new developments, they are doubling these partnerships, building progress and keeping crime under control.”
“In fierce competition from his Democratic counterparts, Gavin Newsom is one of America’s worst governors,” White House spokeswoman Liz Houston said in a statement to USA Today on August 29.
Newsom, CHP says the community wants to see a decline in crime
Newsom and CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said the business will be unannounced, but said the authorities will act on data-driven intelligence regarding crime in certain parts of the state. The team has between 12 and 15 officers, Duryee said.
“These crime control teams provide vital support to local partners by focusing on crime where it most happens. Combining resources, intelligence and personnel will help them better disrupt criminal activity and enhance the safety and security of California communities,” Duryee said.
Duryee said the partnership will come in response to community demands as violent and property crimes were reported statewide last year.
Newsom agreed.
“We’re not responding to anything. We’re not responding to anything. It’s quite the opposite. There’s one warning. The community wants to see more. And we’re trying to deal with the people we serve.” “He’s doing things not with people, especially as it relates to the president. He’s actually militarizing American cities.”
Newsom said if Trump wants to invest in crime control, the president will look into states such as Republican-led states, Louisiana, and Newsom said he has almost four times the rate of murder in California. The Disease Control and Prevention Data Centers are confirming it as a difference in homicide rates in 2023.
“The Louisiana massacre is clearly defined,” Newsom said. “The murder rate is not controlled there. If the president is sincere about the issue of crime and violence, if there is no doubt in my mind, he will likely send troops to Louisiana and Mississippi to deal with the waves of merciless violence there.”
“They’re working on criminal cases,” said John Delatre, a San Antonio, Texas-based psychologist working on criminal cases.
“I think Newsom is the type of figure that has the most ability to provide this type of messaging that can resonate widely,” says Delatorre. “Maga Messenger is very talented when misinterpreting or lying about things that others want to believe are true. In this case, the news is trying to clearly show where the real crime occurs, rather than using fear.”
In response to Newsom’s statement, Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told the Fox News Channel on August 29 that he would welcome federal support. Kennedy claimed Newsom is expanding his program due to Trump’s threat of sending security guards to California cities, including Oakland and San Francisco.
“I welcome help. I welcome federal help. I welcome state help. I welcome local help,” Kennedy told Fox News. “Get off.”
Newsom said he was “putting a mirror” at Trump’s actions.
During the August 28 news briefing, Newsom was repeatedly asked whether the announcement of a statewide crime suppression team was related to Trump’s threatening to send troops to primarily led US cities.
The governor said it was not about “nationalising or militarizing security guards.” Newsom said he “puts a mirror” on Trump’s actions.
“But the country acknowledges that the authoritarian tendencies of this president, as well as the need to awaken not only to authoritarian behavior, but also to what is happening,” the news said. “I can’t normalize this. And yes, I’m stressing some blatant hypocrisy. Yes, I put a mirror on Trump’s tweets and the insanity that’s his glyft.”
