Louisiana's governor asks for National Guard deployment to New Orleans and other cities

Audio By Carbonatix

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana's Republican governor asked for National Guard deployments to New Orleans and other cities, saying Monday that his state needs help fighting crime and praising President Donald Trump's decision to send troops to Washington and Memphis.

Gov. Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, asked for up to 1,000 troops through fiscal year 2026 in a letter sent to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It comes weeks after Trump suggested New Orleans could be one of his next targets for deploying the National Guard to fight crime.

Trump also sent troops in recent months to Los Angeles and his administration has announced plans for similar actions in other major cities, including Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

Landry said his request “builds on the proven success” of deployments to Washington and Memphis. While Trump has ordered troops into Memphis with the backing of Tennessee's Republican governor, as of Monday night there had yet to be a large-scale operation in the city.

“Federal partnerships in our toughest cities have worked, and now, with the support of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are taking the next step by bringing in the National Guard,” Landry said.

Leaders in Democratic-controlled states have criticized the planned deployments. In Oregon, elected officials have said troops in Portland are not needed.

In his request, Landry said there has been “elevated violent crime rates” in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans as well as shortages in local law enforcement. He said the state’s vulnerability to natural disasters made the issue more challenging and that extra support would be especially helpful for major events, including Mardi Gras and college football bowl games.

But crime in some of the state's biggest cities has actually decreased recently, with New Orleans, seeing a particularly steep drop in 2025 that has put it on pace to have its lowest number of killings in more than five decades.

Preliminary data from the city police department shows that there have been 75 homicides so far in 2025. That count includes the 14 revelers who were killed on New Year’s Day during a truck attack on Bourbon Street. Last year, there were 124 homicides. In 2023 there were 193.

In Baton Rouge, the state capital, has also seen a decrease in homicides compared to last year, according to police department figures. Data also shows, however, that robberies and assaults are on pace to surpass last year’s numbers.

___

Associated Press reporter Sara Cline contributed to this report.