National Guard members from Ohio and elsewhere have been sent to major cities—including Los Angeles, and more recently, Washington D.C.—at President Donald Trump’s orders in an effort that the administration says is to stamp out crime.
In 2024, however, the violent crime rate was higher in Cleveland than it was in Washington D.C., according to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data. Cincinnati and Columbus saw lower violent crime rates than both cities.
When asked whether those rates in any Ohio cities warranted similar federal involvement, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno told the Statehouse News Bureau he believes Cleveland officials “need to get serious about fighting crime” to avoid eventual intervention.
“Cleveland has an extraordinarily high crime rate, and it doesn’t seem like the elected officials there, whether it’s city council, the mayor, are doing enough to take care of it,” Moreno said in an interview Thursday. “As long as these statistics continue to stay this high, we can’t just turn a blind eye.”
From 2023 to 2024, the FBI documented violent crime rates as decreasing nationwide by nearly 4.5%. Homicides fell by as much as 15%.
Gov. Mike DeWine has defended his decision to send those Ohio guard members to D.C., who the Secretary of the Army requested for 30 days in mid-August. DeWine has fulfilled similar requests for governors outside of the state and mayors inside it, from both political parties, he said.
“This is very consistent with what I’ve done for the last six-and-a-half years,” DeWine said in August.
Democratic politicians and progressive organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have denounced the federal militarization of the Guard. The administration’s actions have been subject to more than one lawsuit, though Trump vowed Tuesday to send guard members to Chicago next.
