I would like to propose an alternative to sending National Guard troops into our cities to enforce local and state laws. Militarization of civilian policing is wrong for many obvious reasons and diverts Guard members from their primary missions.
During the mid-1970s, I helped administer the then-fledgling Public Service Employment program of the U. S. Department of Labor for the state of Louisiana. It provided funding for temporary jobs in public agencies, including local police departments. Funding for additional police officers was provided for departments with insufficient local taxes to meet their needs. It was hoped communities would see the value of these services and pass taxes to support them once federal funding ended…