Washington, D.C.—On Tuesday morning, uniformed soldiers arrived at National Guard headquarters to launch a 30-day mission aimed at supporting local authorities. President Trump called up 800 guardsmen and 500 federal agents, citing a surge in violent crime.
Yet city data paints a different picture: after a 2023 spike, violent offenses in the District of Columbia have fallen to historic lows, with homicides and assaults dropping sharply over the past two years.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, who initially described the move as unsettling and unprecedented, later framed it as an opportunity to accelerate the crime decline. She emphasized that troops will remain unarmed in civilian operations and lack arrest powers.
Civil liberties advocates argue the deployment is political theater. Monica Hopkins of the ACLU’s D.C. office calls it a show of force that sidesteps local control.
Chicago and New York, often cited by the White House as crime hot spots, tell their own stories. In Chicago, homicides are down 30 percent over two years and shootings have fallen 40 percent in the last year. New York’s crime rates hover near multi-decade lows amid bail reform tweaks.
As talk swirls of similar moves in other major cities, mayors and residents are left asking: will extra boots on the ground help, or should proven, data-driven solutions remain the priority?
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National Guard gathers in Washington amid disputed crime data
cgtn.com
