Louisiana governor Jeff Landry asked the Trump administration for National Guard deployments in New Orleans and other cities in the state.
In a letter sent to secretary Pete Hegseth, addressed to him as “Secretary of War,” the governor asked for 1,000 troops through fiscal year 2026, which began on October 1. It comes weeks after Trump floated the idea during a meeting in the Oval Office and less than a week after he announced plans for doing the same in Portland, Oregon. The president has also announced plans to deploy the National Guard in Chicago and, on Monday, he signed an order sending the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee.
According to the governor, the cities of Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans are facing “elevated violent crime rates” as well as “critical personnel shortages within local law enforcement.”
“The request,” Landry said, “builds upon the successful model of Title 32 deployments in other jurisdictions, including Washington D.C. and Tennessee.”
The governor also made reference to previous deployments of the Louisiana National Guard, like after Hurricane Ida, the January 1st terrorist attack, and the Super Bowl, to demonstrate “The guard’s effectiveness” in reducing crime.
However, crime rates in some of the state’s largest cities have actually decreased in recent years, with New Orleans experiencing a steep drop in 2025 that has put it on pace to have its lowest number of killings in more than five decades.
Hans Ganthier, the assistant superintendent of New Orleans’ police department, disputed that the violent crime rate was up.
“Our crime rate is going down,” Ganthier told reporters.
Rep. Troy Carter, D-Louisiana also disputed the claim.
“We’re enjoying the lowest violent crime rates that we’ve had in decades. We should continue on that trend and not create a military zone,” Carter said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana condemned the possible deployment as an “abuse of power and waste of resources.”
“Deploying 1,000 troops as political currency for Trump’s false rhetoric on crime is an embarrassment to the state of Louisiana,” the organization said in a statement.
AP News contributed to this report
