Americans are concerned about crime, but don't broadly support President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to police U.S. cities according to a new NPR-Ipsos law enforcement poll. The survey also shows a significant partisan divide over Trump's crime-fighting tactics.
The ongoing presence of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. has drawn protests, and a federal judge has ruled the deployment of troops to Los Angeles is illegal. Still, Trump is pushing ahead to expand the practice as a way to crack down on crime. He says Memphis, Tenn. is next.
"It's very important because of the crime that's going on not only in Memphis, in many cities, and we're going to take care of all of them, step by step, just like we did in D.C.," he said at a White House ceremony.
He's threatened to send troops to other Democratic-led cities including Chicago, New Orleans, and Baltimore.
The new NPR-Ipsos poll indicates that people are worried about crime.
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"It's a pretty widely held belief," says the global polling firm's vice president Mallory Newall. "Around seven in ten Americans say that the level of crime and violence in American cities is at an unacceptable level."
Crime overall, including violent crime, is down significantly from pandemic-era highs across the U.S. But that doesn't bear out in public perception.
"The American public largely agrees that crime has increased in the U.S. and in major cities," Newall says. "They don't broadly support the actions taken in the name of stopping crime, like calling in the National Guard."
For instance, about half of those polled oppose deploying National Guard troops to their town or a major city in the state they live in.
Not surprisingly, there's a major split along party lines.
"About eight in ten Republicans support something like that and almost the same number of Democrats oppose," Newall says. "So there is a significant partisan divide here."
That divide also shows up in public opinion about the continued deployment of National Guard troops in the nation's capital.
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"They're there for show. Totally unnecessary," says Democrat Les Blackmore. He's among the 1,020 people Ipsos interviewed between September 19th and 21st. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
Blackmore, 70, is a retiree who lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. He says the Guard deployments feel like an occupation.
"Are we really going there?" he asks. "It's not America to me, to see that — a national force policing everyday lives of Americans on our streets and highways."
Republicans are more likely to accept Trump's tactics. The poll finds that 93% of Republicans say crime and violence are unacceptably high.
Bianca Gallegos is one of them.
"I think the biggest issue in America today we face was crime and drugs," she says. "Just a lot of killings and drugs and gang-related."
Gallagos, 35, is a stay-at-home mom in Pocatello, Idaho. She says she would not want the National Guard in her community but supports deployments in Washington, D.C. and Memphis.
"I think those two places are pretty bad in their crime rate," says Gallegos. "If that's something Trump feels needs to be done, then I think it should be done."
Trump does not have that level of trust from independents. The NPR-Ipsos poll shows more than half oppose using troops to fight crime.
"While they may perceive crime to be a problem, the deployment of National Guard troops and boots on the ground, both in major cities and in their local area, is not something that they are comfortable with," Newell says.
"I truly think it's an abuse of power," says independent Darius Gamble, a human resources professional in Gardendale, Ala. just outside Birmingham.
"Calling out the National Guard, I think, is truly excessive," Gamble says. "It's unwarranted. I don't think it's needed. And I think it's just an overreach in regards to POTUS [President of the United States] abusing his power and authority."
Gamble, 50, says he voted for Trump in hopes that he would bring down prices and improve the business climate. He's disappointed with the administration's focus.
"You can deploy military reserves, whoever, but they're still not addressing the real issue, which is we just have way too many guns on the street and there's not enough opportunities in regards to individuals," says Gamble.
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His biggest worry is the economy, and that was the number one response in the NPR-Ipsos poll, followed by political polarization and then crime.
Newall says concern about political extremism and polarization has jumped by about 15 percentage points since May.
"What that tells me is that in this current moment, the public is really on edge about the divides in our society and the fractured political environment that exists," Newall says.
A divide borne out in the way people view the use of military forces to police American cities.
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