National Guard troops are expected to begin patrolling Memphis on Friday as the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on crime in local cities with the presence of military forces, according to The Associated Press.
The Democratic-led city has a rare distinction, ranking top 10 in the nation for both violent crime and homicide.
GOP Gov. Bill Lee (Tenn.) has been overwhelmingly supportive of Trump’s deployment of soldiers to Memphis, citing the need to improve Bluff City’s streets for businesses and their patrons.
“We have to do this. We have to do it for the Memphis business community, small businesses and large employers. I talk to CEOs all the time who want to move to Memphis and who want to bring jobs and who want to bring opportunity,” Lee said during a press conference in late September.
“And we have to make it possible for those companies to feel good about making the moves here. And we have to do this for Memphis families. We have to do this for the people who live and work and worship and play and their children are on the streets,” he added.
Lee also said, “no city in America that has access to the resources we’re about to get.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young (D) originally rejected the idea of boots on the ground in the city but later said it could be used as an “opportunity” to build on the “momentum” of Memphis’s downturn in overall crime, which is at a 25 year low according to local police.
Murder is at a six-year low, aggravated assault at a five-year low, and sexual assault at a 20 year low.
Lee and Young’s sentiments welcoming National Guard soldiers comes in stark comparison to the strong objection to forces in Illinois, Oregon and California. Each of those states have sued the Trump administration over its attempt to federalize soldiers and send them into their cities for patrol.
