Tampa Mayor Jane Castor has mixed opinions on President Donald Trump sending in National Guard troops into the cities he says are dealing with increased crime. She believes it needs to be a more collaborative effort.
This comes as Memphis and Portland have been preparing for guard troops this week. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said that for Memphis, the troops will be in "support roles" and not tasked with making arrests. Member station OPB reported that about 200 National Guard members have been called into federal service in Oregon for 60 days. President Trump has cited the need to safeguard ICE detention facilities there.
NPR reported that the president said the military would be used against the "enemy within." Trump has also proposed sending troops to Chicago.
On NPR's "Here & Now," Tampa's Democratic mayor said a recent survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that while city leaders want federal help addressing crime, they'd prefer it be more of a collaborative effort. This survey included 60 cities.
"If the National Guard are coming in just as an occupying force, it's really not going to have any lasting impact," Castor said. "But if the guard could come into cities that are either short on the number of officers that they have or have specific issues that the National Guard can be deployed to, then I believe most mayors would make the best of that."
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Castor said she doesn't believe Trump will send troops to Tampa.
"I doubt that's happening in Tampa. We're one of the safest cities our size in the nation," said Castor, who was Tampa's police chief before she was elected mayor in 2019.
Castor explained how New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham authorized the state National Guard to support the Albuquerque Police Department earlier this year, and how those troops are taking over more "busy tasks" for officers. In a release earlier this year, Grisham said the partnership was to address the fentanyl crisis and juvenile crime.
"Transporting, monitoring cameras, homeless camp cleanups, background checks, juvenile checks — those types of tasks that take officers' time, but they're really not focused surgically on reducing crime in their cities, as I think a use in that fashion would be advantageous for a lot of cities in our nation," Castor said.
In addition, the survey showed that crime is down 86% in the cities surveyed. This has been one of the main arguments against sending National Guard troops into cities. However, Castor said it's not just statistics that officials need to be considering.
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"I could say that we have reduced crime by certain percentages, but really, it's your community's perception. A lot of that perception comes from quality of life issues," Castor said. "Looking at homelessness, individuals that are suffering from mental health issues, even litter in your city if it doesn't appear to be clean. And so we have to deal with our community's perception, not necessarily the statistics."
Some cities polled by the U.S. Conference of Mayors had federal grants that were cut this year.
For Tampa, Castor said the city has seen the benefit of federal dollars in helping with crime. For example, the city has a violence prevention grant focused on juveniles arrested with a firearm. Castor said it's been "incredibly successful."
She added that many conference members would prefer more federal money to hire officers or improve their department's technology — instead of sending troops. Castor said this will "allow officers to be much, much more efficient and effective in their daily fight to reduce crime."
Another caveat she mentioned is having people serving with an understanding of the region. She mentioned that in Albuquerque, many of the individuals knew the area and lived in the community for the most part.
"So you're not bringing individuals in from the outside that don't understand your community, don't know it geographically," Castor said.
The mayor added that she doesn't see how the troops as an "occupying force" will be beneficial in the long run.
"Sending in an occupying force really is not going to have any positive effect other than the time that those individuals are standing on your city streets. And that is not sustainable, and it's really not a good use of the funding or the time," Castor said.
You can hear the complete interview here.
