On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “Amanpour,” D.C. City Councilwoman Brooke Pinto (D) stated that while the National Guard isn’t the answer, “we need hundreds of more officers” in D.C.
Pinto stated that there has been progress on crime in the city, and “crime is complicated, and it needs serious solutions to address a serious problem. For instance, he talked about that our police department has enough officers. Well, I fundamentally disagree with him there. I think we need hundreds of more officers, but that are through our Metropolitan Police Department, meaning they get trained through our police academy — the best in the country — meaning they know our local D.C. laws and the unique interplay with the federal government, meaning they wear body-worn cameras, and are accountable to the people of D.C. if there’s an issue.”
She continued, “And so, just to say we’re going to have hundreds of National Guardsmen going through the streets who are not trained for this and is not a good use of taxpayer dollars, to me, sounds like an easy fix that’s not actually going to solve the serious problems that we have.”
Pinto also said that having the National Guard come in without “clear direction” won’t help.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Read the full article here