In light of No Kings Protests that drew an estimated 7 million people in cities across the nation, it’s important to revisit the meeting of 800 top military officials last month, where President Donald Trump suggested using “some of these dangerous cities” as training grounds for the military.
This threat of force — which millions of Americans clearly don’t want — is an all too familiar dog whistle — subtly phased, but with an underlying meaning for those wanting to be part of his royal court.
That meaning? If you’re willing to do my bidding, you may join my royal court.
Now we’re beginning to see who’s answering.
Even as the governors of several states — California, Oregon and Illinois, included — are resisting the president’s calls for National Guard troops to patrol their city streets, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called for 1,000 troops, in a letter to President Trump, to support local crime fighting efforts in New Orleans.
On the surface this may seem like a call for help. But a closer inspection reveals it should be viewed as a response to a dog whistle. Dog whistles are effective when the public en masse does not recognize what is happening. Sure, Landry’s call for troops could be shrugged off as a governor simply advocating for his state to get resources needed to address the issues they face but even a cursory look should give you pause.
The New Orleans Police Department’s recently released crime statistics and show that aggravated battery, aggravated assault armed robbery and simple robbery are all down from the previous year. Murder is also down, which is especially significant because the Bourbon Street Attack on Jan. 1, 2025, resulted in the death of at least 10 people, which is included in this number.
According to New Orleans City Council member JP Morrell, Governor Landry has not met with him or NOPD police Chief Kirkpatrick. So, the governor does not consult with local elected leadership or local law enforcement, and crime is going down; what could the motivation for the request for troops be emanating from?
Gov. Landry’s call for troops in NOLA lets the president know, “I am on your team and ready to join your court.” This is consistent for Gov. Landry, who was part of the contingent of Republican governors who volunteered their National Guard Troops for a Washington, D.C., deployment. Trump called for support and Landry responded, as did Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
If Gov. Landry were genuinely interested in reducing crime, he could look at examples happening across the country like Cities United, The Violence Prevention Network, or the Community Based Public Safety Collective. These initiatives have re-imagined what public safety looks like and leveraged evidence-based solutions to address crime, such as adopting a “violence interrupting” model of responding to gun violence, boosting investments in education and creating an inclusive economy. These initiatives no longer rely on punitive force but embrace a holistic approach to address some of the root causes of crime.
I served on the evaluation team for the Center for Social Research who was tasked with the qualitative evaluation of the work and the impact of the Safe Hopeful Healthy Baton Rouge. While it did have a positive impact on reducing crime immediately, the more important and longer-term impact was around coordinating the partners at a city level. The ecosystem that developed because of these efforts allowed everyone to efficiently use their resources and reduce duplicative activities. This efficiency aids in the work being sustainable over time.
This program aimed to reduce violent crime through strategic partnerships, community engagement and coordinated services. This initiative brought together a diverse coalition of trusted community partners unified to improve the health and wellbeing of the whole community. It included Baton Rouge Community Street Team (BRCST), TRUCE, C.H.A.N.G.E., Big Buddy, and The BRidge Agency among others.
There are more than a dozen local examples of existing work in this area he could leverage in addition to the overall model employed in his state capital city or even national examples like Cities United. In New Orleans, groups like the Ubuntu Village should be leveraged and consulted to determine if the call for troops was necessary, or simply a nod to a president consolidating power and determining loyalty.
As opposed to temporarily dropping in an armed military, which may (or may not) temporarily displace crime, these efforts focus on changing the fabric of the community.
If Gov. Landry was serious about soliciting federal resources to bring about holistic changes that would impact crime rates beyond an electoral season, he would do well to advocate for funding around Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP and SNAP-Ed. He would reinvest in first time home buyers’ programs and small businesses development funds. He would invest in his people, rather than releasing troops on them.
Rather than a call for help, Gov. Landry’s request should be viewed for what it is: the answer to a dog whistle.