Trump Put Many Soldiers On Washington's Streets. They Seldom Stop Crime
An investigation reveals that the thousands of National Guard troops deployed to Washington by President Trump have had minimal impact on crime reduction. Data shows these soldiers are rarely involved in arrests and often appear in police reports only as victims of crime.
Why it matters
The report highlights the high financial cost and questionable efficacy of using military personnel for domestic policing in urban environments.
Well past midnight one day this spring, three police officers pulled up to a nightclub where a man was stomping on a young woman lying on the sidewalk.The officers stopped the attack and arrested him, according to a police report. It was the kind of assault police might encounter on almost any night in almost any city.But one detail stood out to police officer Xavier Jimenez, who wrote the report: "There was approximately 15 national guard members in the area on routine patrol who did not take any action."President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Washington last summer as the centrepiece of what he describes as a no-holds-barred effort to combat crime, especially in cities run by Democrats. Every day, small clots of soldiers in camouflage and body armour patrol tourist-heavy areas of the U.S.
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