On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig stated that “It is dangerous” in Washington, D.C. even if the crime rate is improving and “You cannot deny that. And a common police tactic is to surge resources” something that is usually “applauded across the board, across the political board.”
Honig said, “I’ve worked extensively with police, and I don’t have a problem, tactically, with what Donald Trump is doing here. [It] doesn’t have to be the most dangerous place on earth. Something can be improving, but still really bad. If your house is on fire and then a third of the fire goes out, it’s less bad, but it could still be an emergency. I work in D.C. It is dangerous there. You cannot deny that. And a common police tactic is to surge resources. I’ve been part — we call them task forces. They’re applauded across the board, across the political board. I’ve done it in New Jersey. I’ve done it in New York. You take the FBI, you team them up with the Newark PD, what have you, you make a visible presence. Now, is some of it for appearance and show? Yes. Because what it does is A. It assures people. It gives people a bit of confidence and security. And B. It deters people from committing crimes. So, it’s not going to hurt. And this is a situation that needs to be improved.”
Later, Honig added that it is fair to question the cost of the federal surge, “the decisionmakers get to make this decision. Where’s the chief of the Metro PD? Where’s the mayor? If they disagreed with this, if they felt this was so illegal, unwarranted, inappropriate, why have they not challenged it? Why have they not — they’ve challenged it rhetorically, but they haven’t gone to court on it.”
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