Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry formally requested that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to New Orleans on Sept. 29, 2025, seeking federal assistance for the city.
In his letter, Landry cited elevated crime rates and low personnel of local law enforcement in cities such as Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
“The proposed mission and scope for the Louisiana National Guard would be to deploy throughout the state to urban centers, supplement law enforcement presence in high-crime areas, provide logistical and communication support, and secure critical infrastructure. All operations will adhere to established rules for use of force and prioritize community outreach, to ensure transparency and public trust.”
Most Louisiana state officials are not opposed to a deployment of National Guard troops, especially after the terrorist attack by Shamsud-Din Jabbar in New Orleans in January 2025. However, some officials, such as the mayor of Baton Rouge, are concerned about the Guard’s presence in the streets and how it might impact the lives of local citizens.
In an interview with KNOE news, Alanah Odoms, the executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, referred to the deployment of National Guard troops as a “gross abuse of power.” Other state officials pointed out that citizens might be too intimidated by the presence of the National Guard patrolling the streets, which could deter them from going about their daily lives.
PoliceScorecard.org, a nationwide database that calculates police brutality and racial biases, provided some insight on the crime rates in these major cities.
In Shreveport, police violence staggered at 49%. Half of the arrests recorded in Shreveport involved some instances of deadly force. 58% of arrests made were for non-violent crimes, while the number of killings by police was higher than 57% of U.S. police departments. Baton Rouge had a much lower police violence rate, measuring at 26%. While only 15% of arrests included force, 50% of that force was deadly.
In 2025, New Orleans’ police violence was measured at 85%. While the New Orleans police department had a lower death rate than Shreveport, all the arrests involved excessive force, with 82% using deadly force. 99% of the victims of deadly force during arrest were unarmed.
These statistics support the concerns that Louisiana state officials made about civilians being fearful of the National Guard. With most of the local police departments having high brutality rates, the citizens of these cities fear them—especially people of color who face significantly higher police brutality rates. Many Democratic representatives feel that the deployment of military forces will only lead to more unnecessary fear throughout the cities.
