National Guard troops and their Humvees have become an all too familiar sight on the Mall, around Union Station and Metro stops, and even at Nationals Park. President Trump’s rationale for deploying the Guard here was his claim that DC has a crime emergency, even though according to the Justice Department, crime in the city is at a 30-year low.
The cost of this deployment to US taxpayers is $1 million a day. Yet it will have minimal impact on crime in the nation’s capital. National Guard members have no role in local law enforcement.
If the money spent on posting the Guard in our city were invested in proven strategies, there could be sustained success in reducing crime here. Instead of deploying the Guard on the Mall, there should be increased DC Police presence in neighborhoods where crime has been a serious problem. And there could be if Congress were not depriving the city of $1 billion of local DC tax dollars.
DC Police often work with federal law enforcement agencies to reduce gun and drug trafficking. Effective collaboration between local police and federal agencies can have a positive impact on public safety. However, when cars and folks on the street are stopped by officers who fail to identify their agency, it makes the city feel dangerous.
It is not surprising that 80 percent of Washingtonians do not want the National Guard deployed in our city. The presence of the Guard and the activities of unidentified federal agents in DC is hurting the city economically. Tourism is taking a hit, and local businesses are losing revenue.
A majority of people in the 50 states are also opposed to the deployment of the Guard in DC, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. The wasteful and harmful presence of the National Guard in DC should end immediately.