Crime

D.C.'s Crime Drop Didn't Require a Military Deployment

A new study finds the National Guard deployment to Washington, D.C., cost taxpayers over $300 million and failed to return even $1 for every dollar spent.

Tosin Akintola | 6.4.2026 1:34 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google

Media Contact & Reprint Requests

(Christy Bowe/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom/Brian Cassella/TNS)

In August 2025, President Donald Trump deployed 800 National Guardsmen to Washington, D.C., as part of his plan for "restoring law and order" in the city. In the 10 months since, this number has ballooned to 2,673 troops. While crime in the city has dropped significantly, a new study from the Niskanen Center suggests that the city's police department could have achieved the same result for far less money. 

So far in 2026, D.C. has seen a 2 percent reduction in violent crime and a 25 percent reduction in property crime, according to the latest available data from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The president has attributed D.C.'s drop in crime to the presence of the National Guard in the city during the decline, but the city's police officers seem to have been the driving force behind the change.

Richard Hahn, senior manager for research and evidence at the Niskanen Center and one of the report's authors, tells Reason the declining crime........

© Reason.com