Why We Wrote This Republicans say crime rates justify National Guard rollouts to Democrat-led cities like Memphis.
Memphis, where President Trump said Friday that he’ll put National Guard troops at the request of Tennessee’s Republican Gov.
State law allows open and concealed carry of handguns without a permit, as well as guns in cars.
In general, while Democrat-led cities tend to have the highest violent crime statistics, when measured by state, crime rates are highest in Republican-led locations.
Crime is a different matter.” The Trump administration now also plans to send 1,000 National Guard troops to Louisiana, though Gov.
Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, and Washington were among the firmly Democratic cities that President Donald Trump first named as targets when he escalated his rhetoric about a federal crackdown on urban crime. Several of the top ten cities with high homicide rates are located in states with Republican majorities, something he neglected to mention.
However, recent plot twists in a national reckoning on violent crime serve as a reminder that political sound bites cannot capture the complexity of the problem.
Charlotte, a politically purple city in North Carolina, gained national attention for its public safety after a well-publicized subway murder. It has rocked the country since conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in solid-red Utah. Moreover, two cities in Republican-controlled Tennessee are among the top 20 in the nation for violent crime among major cities with a population of 500,000 or more.
Why We Composed This.
National Guard deployments to Democrat-led cities like Memphis are justified by crime rates, according to Republicans. The fact that many states with higher crime rates are Republican-led serves as a reminder that there are many facets to crime, including its causes and remedies.
Memphis, where President Trump declared on Friday that he would deploy National Guard forces at the Republican governor of Tennessee’s request. Of those big cities, Bill Lee has the highest rates of violent crime overall and homicides. The impending deployment’s specifics have not yet been disclosed.
This Democratic city is a prime example of the nuanced realities that underpin a national partisan debate in many respects. In addition to its long history of racial and socioeconomic injustice, Memphis, a thriving commercial and distribution hub on the Mississippi River, has also struggled with police corruption for time. When Tyre Nichols was killed by police in 2023, that became very clear.
Paul Young, the city’s Democratic mayor, claims that while he did not request the National Guard, he will “work strategically” to match local policing priorities with federal resources.
However, Aram Goudsouzian, a political historian at the University of Memphis, sees Memphis as a target for Republican state and county lawmakers who have limited the city’s taxation authority and forced it to adhere to the state’s lax gun safety laws. Memphis is located three hours west of Nashville, which is also high on the crime charts and more conservative.
Understanding Memphis’s place in Tennessee state politics is crucial to comprehending [the reasons Governor Lee has invited federal deployment), according to Professor Goudsouzian. In a state that is dominated by Republicans, it is the only Democratic stronghold. Rural white lawmakers find it easy to target. to disparage Memphis and portray it as a crisis in order to gain political points without really addressing the problems that would contribute to a decrease in crime.
State law permits the carrying of firearms in vehicles and in the open and concealed without a permit.
In addition to the splendor of Graceland and the blues on Beale Street, the River City is regrettably known for events like this month’s shooting, which left four children at a house wounded by a shower of bullets.
Dear Mr. Following earlier Guard deployments he ordered this year in Los Angeles and the nation’s capital, Trump has now called for the deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis. Laws that restrict the use of troops in domestic law enforcement limit such actions, and President Trump’s contentious attempt to use the National Guard for urban public safety coincides with a decline in violent crime, including homicides.
However, his pledge to support police and stricter laws, along with the public’s concern about urban violence, helped him win the election.
people’s support for increased police presence.
According to some polls, more than half of Americans are in favor of President Trump’s approach to crime management, which the Republican president has made a prime focus of his administration along with the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
According to Louis Quijas, who was in charge of the FBI’s Office of Law Enforcement Coordination under President George W. Bush, “you should never reach a point where your citizens throw their hands up and say, ‘I don’t care what you have to do, just come in here and clean this up.'”. Bush.
State-by-state, crime rates are highest in Republican-led areas, although violent crime statistics are generally highest in Democrat-led cities. A recent analysis by the Manhattan Institute also suggests that other social conditions may be more of a catalyst for violence in a community than policing. For instance, Memphis’ poverty rate is 22.6 percent, which is almost twice the U.S. S. national rate, ranking it as the second most impoverished large city with a population of at least 500,000.
Additionally, experts say that social policies from both parties, including conservative ones like lax gun laws and cuts to public education and social safety net programs, can contribute to the environment that encourages criminal activity, despite Republicans’ frequent accusations that Democrats are not tough enough on crime.
An expert on policing structures at Suffolk University in Boston, Brenda Bond-Fortier, says, “It’s ironic that many initiatives [aimed at collaboration between federal and local law enforcement] have been eliminated, and now we’ve turned toward militarization.”.
The use of the National Guard and other forms of federal intervention to put an end to unrest is nothing new. In order to dismantle mafia organizations, the federal government infiltrated cities in the 1960s and 1970s. Federal task forces swarmed into cities to investigate possible attacks following 9/11.
The DDC reports that carjackings decreased by 87% after troops were sent to Washington earlier this year, where Mr. Trump had more discretion because the area is a federal enclave. the Police Union.
Although the National Guard may offer a temporary solution, Buddy Chapman, a former Memphis police director and author of “Call Me Director: Memoir of a Police Reformer,” claims that the Trump administration’s approach is “misapplying the purpose of military force.”. “.”.
He continues, “Military force is not to stop you from doing something.”. Its purpose is to destroy and exterminate you. Crime is a distinct issue. “”.
There are now plans for the Trump administration to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to Louisiana, but Gov. It is not something that Republican Jeff Landry has requested. In an interview with Fox News last week, Mr. Trump claimed that New Orleans was “in really bad shape.”. In a week and a half, I can resolve that. “.”.
Republican crime policies at the state level.
Nonetheless, Republican state leaders have already started implementing reforms that are consistent with President Trump’s pledges to police with fewer legal restrictions, primarily in the South.
In Georgia, Gov. The state highway patrol has been directed to turn toward urban areas by Brian Kemp. In order to employ state troopers for foot patrols in urban areas, Governor Landry of Louisiana established Troop NOLA. In Jackson, Mississippi, a state-run court was established by a new law to combat crime in the downtown area. Democrat John Horhn, the mayor of Jackson, referred to the law as a “necessary evil” after voting against it while serving as a senator. “.”.
State legislators in Missouri reorganized the police oversight board in St. Louis following increases in criminal activity. Additionally, legislators in Indiana recently established a new oversight board that has the authority to look into prosecutors who receive complaints for being overly forgiving of alleged criminals.
Some of those initiatives have received favorable feedback.
However, they haven’t allayed long-standing worries about the concentration of police power. Additionally, according to Charles McKinney, a historian from Rhodes College and co-editor of “An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee,” with Professor Goudsouzian, the Guard deployment in Memphis would amount to the extension of “the power of the presidency through the barrel of a gun.”. “”.
Laws, leaders, and enduring difficulties.
A city record of 390 homicides occurred in Memphis in 2023. However, the numbers started to decline last year, and in the first half of 2025, the overall crime rate in River City was at a 25-year low thanks to local initiatives like improved police tactics, better data analysis, an increase in local initiatives to develop constructive programs to address youth involvement in crime, and new partnerships with the U.S. S. . Attorney’s Office to bring charges that carry a potential sentence of federal prison time.
The city has a long history of healing and community generosity. Memphis residents donated a larger percentage of their income to charitable causes than residents of any other major metropolitan area, according to a 2017 study by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. On average, 50.6 percent of their income went to charitable causes. In 1968, the city established the Metropolitan Interfaith Association to aid in the city’s recovery following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder. still provides for a large number of the city’s impoverished.
However, prominent acts of violence still lead to criticism of liberal criminal justice policies, like those pertaining to bail and the use of force, which are currently employed in many cities to address civil rights concerns.
Regards, Mr. In some cities, Quijas, a former police chief in High Point, North Carolina, says the current situation calls for a federal response similar to what President Trump is implementing.
“Bad policies are handcuffing our excellent police commissioners and chiefs,” he claims.
The roots of American violence, according to others, are more widespread and call for improved law enforcement as well as community involvement.
“If we make these issues into political footballs, we will never be able to address our nation’s crime problems – both street and white collar crime,” writes Randolph Roth, a historian at The Ohio State University and author of “American Homicide,” in an email.
“Being great won’t solve the problem. It is possible to govern from the center while also listening to and respecting one another. “.”.
Contributing to this report was Victoria Hoffmann, a staff writer.
