WABC — Visitors to the nation’s capital this week are seeing armed National Guard troops – 2,200 of them – and while no such order has been given to deploy troops in New York City so far, a big question is whether or not the Trump administration could see a need to do so.
National Guard troops have been deployed, not to high crime areas of Washington, D.C., but instead at national monuments and in train stations.
“They’re armed, capable of defending themselves and others, if need be, supporting law enforcement,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said.
But Commissioner Jessica Tisch says the NYPD doesn’t need that kind of support, telling Attorney General Pam Bondi in a sit-down meeting on Monday that the department can handle the city’s crime, and that gun violence is down so far this year. Bondi appeared publicly at Brooklyn Federal on Monday before the meeting with Tisch.
According to a source, the two also discussed drones.
The commissioner has made no secret that the NYPD would like the authority to take down drones suspected in criminal activity, authority only the federal government currently has.
The Trump administration is now flexing the federal muscle of the National Guard or considering it in other major cities.
Violent crime is also down in Chicago in the last four years, and the governor of Illinois says National Guard troops aren’t needed. On Monday, ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked the president if he would consider sending them to cities with high crime in red states.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement on Monday, calling it reckless to withhold federal funds, saying it would only undercut law enforcement and make communities less safe.
