A year after President Trump sent thousands of National Guard troops into D.C. to fight crime, a Reuters review found the soldiers rarely play a direct role in major criminal cases. Here’s what to know:
Troops outnumber police, but rarely make arrests. National Guard members were mentioned in just 1.3% of criminal cases filed since the deployment began.
Most encounters involve low-level offenses. Court records show soldiers helping detain people for alleged shoplifting, fare evasion and other minor crimes more often than serious violent offenses.
They mostly patrol safer parts of the city. Reuters found little evidence of troop involvement in the neighborhoods that have seen the vast majority of D.C.'s homicides.
The mission comes with a hefty price tag. The deployment currently costs more per day than the city's police force and could total $1.4 billion by the end of Trump's term.
It's unclear whether it's reducing crime. Murders have fallen, but so have homicides in many other cities. One recent study found the deployment reduced car thefts but had no measurable impact on violent crime.
Why it matters: Trump has promoted the deployment as a model for fighting crime in U.S. cities. D.C. is becoming a test case for whether a military-style presence actually improves public safety.
Brad Heath has more here.
