Violent crime and some property crimes have declined in most California cities and many major U.S. cities, but public perception of urban danger remains high. President Trump ordered National Guard troops to patrol Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and potentially other cities as a show of force. Governor Gavin Newsom authorized a surge of California Highway Patrol officers in strategic locations as a state-controlled policing response that mirrors federal troop deployments. Law enforcement officers perform different roles than soldiers, focusing on community safety and law enforcement rather than military repression. Deploying CHP has precedent, including a 2023 operation in San Francisco's Tenderloin to address open drug use.
To hear President Trump tell it, killers lurk in every shadow not already filled by rapists and thieves. California Gov. Gavin Newsom isn't nearly as dire, pointing out that crime numbers are down. But "numbers mean little to people," Newsom lamented during a press gaggle in his office Thursday, where he ruthlessly trolled Trump with a flags-and-all setup that appeared to mock the president's marathon Cabinet meeting earlier in the week.
Newsom is now offering up what many have framed as a counterpunch to Trump's military intervention: A surge of California Highway Patrol officers in strategic locations across the state, basically Newsom-controlled cop boots on the ground to mirror Trump's troops.
But looking at Newsom's deployment of more CHP officers as no more than a reaction to Trump misses a larger debate on what really makes our communities safer. Understanding what makes cops different from soldiers - and Newsom's move different from Trump's - is ultimately understanding the difference between repression and public safety, force and finesse.
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