For urban strife, soldiers or police?
The White House push for militarized law enforcement in cities challenges past practices as well as proven 鈥� and compassionate 鈥� ways to combat crime without lethal force.
Silhouetted against the Washington Monument, armed members of West Virginia's National Guard are shown on patrol in Washington, D.C. in late September.
Reuters
When a police officer in the United States yells 鈥淐over me!鈥� to colleagues, that means to be prepared to shoot 鈥� if necessary. A member of the U.S. military, however, could interpret those same words as a call to unleash lethal firepower.
This distinction is just one among many complexities of engaging combat-ready troops to 鈥渇ight鈥� crime or civilian unrest domestically. Fundamental differences in the roles and culture of policing and warfare can create logistical and legal troubles.
鈥淧olice officers are taught to use time, distance and de-escalation,鈥� a former Los Angeles Police Department chief wrote in The New York Times in June, when 4,000 National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles to protect immigration officers from protesters. 鈥淢ilitary training, equipment and tactics are optimized for warfare 鈥� not for safeguarding civil liberties or managing peaceful protest,鈥� he observed.
The National Guard is often deployed by governors to assist after natural disasters. It has been used only sparingly by presidents 鈥� to safeguard civil rights activists in the 1960s, for example, or to help quell riots in Los Angeles in 1992.
When it comes to investigating and addressing crime, the National Review writes, the National Guard 鈥渋sn鈥檛 an adequate substitute for the police.鈥� It cannot arrest individuals, collect evidence, or prepare a case for prosecution. And its use is expensive.
However, in August, President Donald Trump activated the Guard in Washington, D.C., to combat crime that he claimed was 鈥渙ut of control.鈥� The Department of Justice is investigating last year鈥檚 statistics that reported violent offenses in the capital were at their lowest in 30 years.聽Now, troops are being deployed to Memphis, Tennessee, and to Portland, Oregon, where residents and city officials dispute White House depictions of a city now in 鈥渁narchy.鈥� Chicago appears to be next on the list. In remarks Tuesday to senior officers of the armed forces, Mr. Trump suggested using 鈥渄angerous鈥� cities 鈥渁s training grounds for our military.鈥�
His actions and descriptions are testing the perception of urban communities and of law enforcement. They may also test the robustness of the nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the use of federal troops on American soil.
Meanwhile, a group of faith leaders in Washington is pushing the conversation beyond policy and politics. They have called on 鈥減olitical and civic leaders to ... work together in a spirit of dignity and respect 鈥� so that safety, justice, and compassion prevail.鈥�
Where the White House may see 鈥渁 lawless wasteland,鈥� their statement indicates, 鈥渨e see fellow human beings ... each made in the image of God.鈥� Fighting crime or unrest does not always need maximum force.
Editor's note:聽This piece has been updated to reflect that the DOJ is investigating the accuracy of its 2024 statistics on crime in Washington, D.C.