BLOOMBERG (NEW YORK) -- New York City’s police commissioner doesn’t want to see the National Guard patrolling the streets of the nation’s biggest city and is “revolted” by the prospect of President Donald Trump deploying the military to urban areas.
Federal National Guard members lack the training to handle street crime and may create new problems if they’re sent to big US cities, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday at an event in midtown Manhattan. Tisch’s comments come as Trump is threatening to send National Guard troops to Chicago and New York after putting Washington, DC’s police department under federal control.
“One of the very major concerns that I have around this topic of deploying the National Guard to New York City or big cities across the country is that it will introduce an amount of chaos and disorder and confusion that will be counterproductive — to say nothing of the fact that as a lifelong New Yorker, I am revolted by the idea of the militarization of our streets,” Tisch said at the event, which was hosted by the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog.
While the federal government has the authority to take over the operations of DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, it doesn’t have the ability to take the same action in New York or other major US cities, Tisch said. But Trump could direct federal National Guard troops to stand on New York City street corners or walk through its vast subway system, she said.
Governor Kathy Hochul has deployed about 1,000 National Guard members into the transit system to mostly conduct random bag checks rather than patrol subway cars and platforms.
Tisch would like federal help in reducing guns in New York and wants to see more federal prosecutors taking on gun cases.
“Let’s focus on the right type of partnership with the federal government,” Tisch said. “The National Guard happens not to be that.”
Crime in New York this year is down in all major categories, with total reported crime dropping by 4.5% through August, according to NYPD data. There were 489 reported shooting incidents through August, a 19% drop from last year.
“We’ve got this,” Tisch said about keeping New York City safe. “We don’t need or want the federal government’s help here in that way.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is also pushing back against federal troops coming to Philadelphia or other parts of his state.
“What the president is doing injects chaos in communities, and I can tell you that we are prepared should he decide to try that here in Philly,” Shapiro said at a Monday press briefing. “We’re prepared should they try to deploy the National Guard against my will in any community across Pennsylvania.”