It has been over a year since the Trump administration made the controversial decision to deploy thousands of soldiers to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. But is their presence keeping the district safer? Not according to the data.

National Guard Troops Remain in the Nation's Capital One Year After Initial Deployment

President Donald Trump called on the National Guard last summer to Washington, D.C., in an effort to combat crime. The wider effort put soldiers in several Democratic cities across the country. While many of these troops have left the other cities, the soldiers remain in the nation's capital. Visitors often see the troops patrolling the National Mall, subway stations, and at the district's Major League Baseball park.

It is hard to miss seeing the soldiers when you are visiting D.C. However, a new study by Reuters found that they are not a meaningful deterrent to crime. The news agency found that the National Guard has only been mentioned in 1.3% of the criminal cases filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the court that processes almost all of the area's criminal prosecutions.

How many National Guard troops are in the capital? The latest estimates put the number at 4,500 soldiers. This compares to about 3,200 police officers. This is significant as it costs more to keep the troops on patrol than it does to pay the district's official police officers.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the deployment was "problematic" in the past. However, she has not commented on their presence recently.

What the Reuters Study Found

Reporters with Reuters looked through every available charging document filed in the local court system. The agency also interviewed residents, service members, lawyers, and other people close to the situation.

What they found is that the troops were primarily deployed to neighborhoods that are wealthier and whiter, responding to mostly minor incidents. Reuters did not identify any court records that proved that the soldiers responded to the neighborhoods where roughly 82% of the district's 859 murders happened over the last five years.

The majority of the crimes broken up by the soldiers were minor. For instance, troops chased down a man who had stolen two slices of pizza in October. Just a week later, they detained a man who threw a rock at a bus. Last month, court records show that six soldiers detained a woman who drank a bottle of root beer without purchasing it.

The Reuters investigation uncovered 217 criminal cases in the city in which court records mentioned the involvement of these troops. About 25% of the cases demonstrated that the soldiers successfully stopped the people suspected of a crime. The majority of these detainments were for minor crimes, such as shoplifting or sneaking onto a subway without paying. The data showed that soldiers helped local law enforcement with arrests in 43 of the cases.

The National Guard troops were deputized as U.S. Marshals prior to their arrival. However, these soldiers have limited law-enforcement power despite the deputization. Although they can detain suspects, they need to call in reinforcement from the local police to make a formal arrest. This lines up with the official line from the U.S. Department of Defense, a group that has called the work "presence patrols" that are designed to deter crime instead of responding to it.

Violence Against Troops

The soldiers have not exactly been welcomed with open arms in the capital. Reuters discovered 62 cases of people being charged with punching, pushing, or otherwise threatening the troops. Nine of the accused allegedly spat on the soldiers, while another man reportedly tried to grab a gun out of the holster.

More tragically, two soldiers from West Virginia were shot when patrolling an area near the White House. One of the victims died from his injuries.

The National Guard troops have a new mission this summer. Dozens of soldiers were deployed to guard the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after algae blooms turned the water green and peeled away the paint. Trump and his team continued to assert that vandals sabotaged the restoration project until U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro conceded that the contractor was at fault for messing up the job.

The use of these troops as an everyday presence is quite unusual. Although the National Guard is frequently called up to respond to natural disasters or to patrol events such as the Super Bowl, they have never been used for ordinary crime deterrents.

The Trump administration defends the decision by pointing to the falling murder rates in Washington, D.C. for the third straight year. However, it should be noted that overall homicide numbers are down across the board, even in cities where soldiers are not patrolling the streets. In addition, the number of other violent crimes in D.C. has slightly increased since the beginning of 2026. This includes robberies, sex offenses, and serious assaults.  

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