Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has made a formal request to the Pentagon for the federal government to pay for the deployment of 1,000 Louisiana National Guard Troops, who will assist local law enforcement in fighting crime.
Landry, who appeared on Fox News Monday night, says when he took office last year, there was a decline in violent crime in New Orleans, but recently they’ve seen an uptick.
“And we are going to crack down on violence in the city of New Orleans. We’re not going to tolerate this uptick in violence that’s going on right now,” Landry said.
The Trump administration has already authorized the deployment of the National Guard to Washington D.C. in an effort to reduce crime and enforce immigration laws. More recently, the Guard has been deployed to Memphis, Tennessee, and now Portland, Oregon. Landry expects the President will approve Louisiana’s request.
“Oh yeah, the President’s happy to send us the troops. And you know what, the troops are happy to come,” Landry said.
Landry says the state is also seeing elevated crime rates in Shreveport and Baton Rouge, coupled with manpower shortages within local law enforcement. He says the Guard can supplement law enforcement presence in high-crime areas.
“So we can continue to reduce the amount of violence on our streets,” Landry said.