Many cities say yes to federal police help, but no to ‘occupation’

National Guard at the New Mexico Law Academy learning from State Police, April 25, 2025. Some mayors and police chiefs said they would welcome more traditional law enforcement cooperation with federal agents, but see the National Guard as a step too far. (Brad Trone/The New York Times)

By SHAILA DEWAN and NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS

In the summer of 2020, President Donald Trump sent federal agents to Kansas City, Missouri, as he blamed liberal mayors for a “shocking explosion” of “bloodshed.”

Mayor Quinton Lucas, a Democrat, bristled at the suggestion that local officials were to blame for his city’s spike in crime. And with distrust of law enforcement at a high after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis that year, he worried about how federal law enforcement officers would conduct themselves on the ground.

Yet over the next few months, Lucas came to endorse parts of the federal mission, named Operation Legend after a 4-year-old Kansas City boy who had been killed by a wayward bullet as he slept.

Working with the local police, federal agents helped track down people with open felony warrants, recovered illegal guns and charged some suspects with federal crimes that can carry stiffer penalties than those available under state law. Now, as Trump renews his promise to tackle crime in U.S. cities, Lucas said he could imagine welcoming the help — if it came with a clear strategy.

“I’d say yes in an instant,” he said, if federal agents were sent to help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and teenagers or to trace bullets used in shootings. “I’d go to the White House and have a press conference with them tomorrow.”

In interviews, many mayors and police chiefs around the country said they were put off by Trump’s recent effort to “take back” Washington, D.C., by deploying the National Guard, and they expressed concerns about the wisdom and legality of using the military to conduct domestic law enforcement.

But those same leaders said they would welcome more of the aid that federal agents routinely provide at the local level in the fight against crime — tracing guns, conducting surveillance, capturing fugitives and serving on task forces with local agencies to root out terrorism, human trafficking and drug rings.

There might even be a place for the National Guard if commanders are willing to collaborate with local law enforcement, said Chief Harold Medina of the Albuquerque Police Department. In March, Medina sent a message to New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, requesting such help. He said the city was bedeviled by gun violence, fentanyl and a shortage of police officers.

As a result, about 90 Guard soldiers have been detailed to Albuquerque to watch security cameras, operate drones, help keep the public away from SWAT operations and deliver arrest paperwork to prosecutors on time. Their work has freed up local officers to spend thousands more hours on investigations, arrests and patrols.

“Best request I ever made,” Medina said.

But, he cautioned, that Guard deployment was carefully plotted in advance, down to what the troops would wear (polo shirts) and how they would be armed (with pepper spray). The soldiers also received six weeks of training on topics such as de-escalation and crisis intervention.

“I’ve been able to direct what we need help with, and I think that’s the key,” he said. “You have to respect the chief.”

Many local leaders worry that the surge of federal agents Trump is now proposing could come without that kind of planning, and with additional priorities that are in conflict with the desires of cities and their residents — such as deporting people residing in the country illegally.

After its rollout in Kansas City, Operation Legend was brought to eight more cities, where the reception by local leaders ranged from lukewarm to caustic. Many feared a repeat of the crackdown on street protesters in Portland, Oregon, by federal agents in unmarked vans, which had drawn widespread public opposition. In Chicago, the mayor at the time, Lori Lightfoot, opposed the operation in a letter in which she criticized the use of “secret federal agents” who “do not know Chicago” and who would operate outside the chain of command.

The FBI said that Operation Legend ultimately resulted in more than 6,000 arrests and the seizure of more than 2,600 guns. Those figures might not be entirely reliable; crime experts said it was difficult to tell which arrests were directly attributable to the federal program.

Brandon Johnson, the Democratic mayor of Chicago, signed an executive order last week once again resisting Trump’s vow to send troops into the city, saying he hoped to head off a flood of immigration agents deporting Chicago residents or any attempt to put “tanks in our streets.”

On Saturday, Trump posted a message on his social media site alluding to immigration raids and his renaming of the Defense Department: “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”

Johnson said that the city’s Police Department must remain under local control but noted that local officers already collaborated with federal agents, particularly in hunting down guns and drugs, as well as in human trafficking cases.

One federal service that local departments cite as particularly useful is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ crime gun tracing, handled by 25 centers across the country that bring together federal, state and local agencies. In addition, Johnson asked for more help in preventing the flow of illegal guns into Chicago. Trump, though, has proposed slashing the bureau’s budget and roster of inspectors.

The existing collaboration with federal agencies has been cited by other cities in arguing that a dramatic show of force, such as a National Guard deployment, is not needed and could, in fact, be counterproductive.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott of Baltimore, a Democrat, noted a significant reduction in homicides so far this year and chalked that reduction up, in part, to a strong collaboration with federal agents from the ATF, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We welcome them sending more,” he said, if the administration wants to deploy more federal agents — but not National Guard troops — to Baltimore.

“We do not want an occupation, and we also want something that is sustainable,” he said.