On Friday, President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, aiming to reduce crime in the area, following recent similar actions in Washington, D.C. over the past month.
“We’re moving to Memphis. The city is facing significant issues,” Trump expressed during a “Fox and Friends” interview in New York. “Both the city’s Democratic mayor and Tennessee’s governor are on board. We’ll address the situation just like we did in Washington.”
The president also brought up the topic of Chicago’s crime rate, a frequent subject of his discussions, stating, “I would’ve preferred focusing on Chicago,” while criticizing the city’s Democratic leaders for their resistance to the intervention.
Trump said he decided on Memphis after speaking with someone he knows on the board of Fedex who brought up the crime rate in the city.
“We’re heading to Memphis,” Trump reiterated. “This is an announcement — we’ll resolve the issues using the National Guard and any other necessary resources. Additionally, the military might be utilized if required.”
According to FBI statistics, the number of violent crimes in Memphis has consistently ranged from 15,000 to 16,000 annually over the past five years, reflecting an increase of several thousand since ten years ago.
The offices of Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Republican Gov. Bill Lee didn’t immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.
Trump noted having “more authority” in D.C., where governance is shared with the federal level, and mentioned the administration’s positive rapport with Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“We’ve had a great relationship,” Trump said. “Everybody’s happy, and the mayor was not in favor of it at first … and then she saw the results, and everyone’s going up and thanking her. We have no crime anymore.”
Trump’s emergency order authorizing a federal takeover of the D.C. police force for 30 days expired this week, and would have required Congress to extend it further under a law that grants the city some autonomy.
Bowser said federal law enforcement personnel would remain in the nation’s capital, but the Metropolitan Police Department would stop transporting people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
While the city would return to the “status quo,” she said, “federal police officers are going to be in the district … federal police officers can enhance the public safety mission of MPD.”
Bowser said last month that the increase of federal forces in the nation’s capital did lead to a drop in crime.
“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” she said. In the first 20 days of the federal takeover, there had been an 87% drop in carjackings compared with the same period last year. The data cited also showed a 45% decrease in violent crime and a 15% fall in crime overall in the district from the same period last year.
