CBS News: Baltimore, Chicago mayors hold roundtable on community violence intervention
Christian Olaniran, CBS News
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson held a public safety roundtable to highlight community violence intervention strategies in both Chicago and Baltimore on Monday.
The roundtable followed recent threats by President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard in Baltimore and Chicago as part of a broader crackdown on crime.
Conversations about National Guard deployment in Baltimore began in August, when Mr. Trump announced he was sending troops to Washington, D.C., to address rising crime. In that announcement, he referred to cities such as Baltimore and Chicago as being "so far gone on crime."
Scott rebutted the statement, saying Baltimore is experiencing its safest period in more than 50 years.
"We have to understand that there has to be a comprehensive approach because this is not one size fits all, but also not a one solution to a problem," Scott said.
Baltimore sees drop in violent crime
Mayor Scott said the city is seeing historically low violent crime numbers, with a 50% decline in homicides and non-fatal shootings since 2023.
Scott largely credited Baltimore's Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) for the continued drop in violent crime.
Those stats are not without challenges from residents who say that the city is still in need of public safety improvements, specifically in Baltimore communities like Federal Hill, which have seen a crime spike.
Although Trump has not made concrete moves to deploy the National Guard in Baltimore, he has continued to issue threats to do so. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has publicly opposed any federal intervention.
National Guard deployed in Chicago
Earlier this month, CBS News Chicago reported that nearly 500 National Guard soldiers from Texas and Illinois were deployed in the greater Chicago area to protect federal agents and facilities amid a legal dispute over their deployment
The U.S. Northern Command at the Department of Defense said the troops would remain mobilized for at least 60 days. Mr. Trump invoked Title 10 of the U.S. Code to federalize the National Guard, allowing their use to protect immigration personnel and government facilities in several cities, including Chicago, where protests erupted over his administration's immigration efforts.
Attorneys for both Illinois and Chicago filed lawsuits arguing the Trump administration's "deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful."
On Oct. 8, U.S. District Judge April Perry granted a restraining order temporarily blocking the Trump administration's deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois.
Last Wednesday, Perry extended the restraining order, which would have expired last week, that prevents the Trump administration from deploying additional National Guard troops. The Supreme Court is now considering the White House's appeal of that order.
Now, the Trump administration is blocked from deploying more troops until either the Supreme Court grants the president's request to allow the troop deployment or Perry makes a final ruling on the merits of the lawsuit challenging the president's authority to deploy the National Guard.
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