ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
When President Trump announced that the federal government would be taking control of Washington, D.C.'s police force in the name of public safety, he also suggested that other big cities could be next.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don't even mention that anymore. They're so far gone.
SHAPIRO: The people who call those places home might have been surprised at that threat of federal intervention. Let's hear from two of these cities, starting in Oakland, California, with KQED's Alex Hall.
ALEX HALL, BYLINE: It's true that Oakland has struggled with crime. Last year, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom deployed California Highway Patrol officers to the city with the aim of cracking down on violent crime, auto theft and other criminal activity. But recent police data show violent crime is down by about 28%, and vehicle theft in Oakland is down 45% compared to this time last year. So when Oakland officials heard President Trump's comments about the city, some were angry.
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CARROLL FIFE: We're talking about having a president who had Oakland's name in his mouth about crime, who is a convicted felon. A convicted felon trying to talk about Oakland. I'm offended.
HALL: Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife was one of multiple local officials who spoke before a crowded room at city hall last week, driving home the message that Trump is wrong about Oakland. They pointed to investments the city and county have made in education and to address homelessness and public safety.
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FIFE: If you care about safety, Mr. Convicted Felon in the White House, if you care about law and order, you would know that the safest cities have the most resources.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: That's right.
HALL: Concerns over crime and criticism of local officials' responses to it contributed to the recalls last year of Oakland's last mayor and the county's district attorney.
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BARBARA LEE: And of course we have more work to do, but we're doing the work.
HALL: The city's newly-elected mayor, Barbara Lee, was in Congress during Trump's first term.
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LEE: Let me just say, no one knows this president's playbook better than I do.
HALL: Lee said it's not a coincidence that the cities Trump mentioned have large populations of Black and brown people.
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LEE: These are cities - all of these cities - where the crime rates are going down. These are the cities that happen to be led by Black mayors. What is this about? What is this about? His motives are fearmongering and diversionary.
HALL: Lee says the city's legal team is analyzing the constitutionality of what she called Trump's threats. The mayor's office says Lee has been in contact with the mayors of other cities Trump mentioned, including the mayor of Chicago. They've discussed how they're preparing their cities for what might come next.
For NPR News, I'm Alex Hall in Oakland, California.
MARIAH WOEFEL, BYLINE: And I'm Mariah Woefel in Chicago, a city accustomed to being a rhetorical punching bag in national conversations around crime and where freshman Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson has honed his insults of President Trump.
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BRANDON JOHNSON: I have never seen a president more off than Donald Trump - just off the rockers.
WOEFEL: That's Johnson at a recent news conference where he said Trump's threats to send in the National Guard are unconstitutional and illegal.
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JOHNSON: He does not have the legal authority to do it. In fact, troops do not have policing power. These are soldiers - soldiers. They don't go through the training that our police officers go through.
WOEFEL: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker argued, too, that Trump does not have the power to send in military force, especially to fight crime against the will of the local government.
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JB PRITZKER: It's not surprising to me that he suggests violating the law. He's done it many times and been convicted of it 34 times. So I would just say he has no - absolutely no right.
WOEFEL: Pritzker and Johnson have threatened legal action if Trump sends troops. Meanwhile, violent crime - particularly gun violence - is dropping across Chicago, with shootings down nearly 40% compared to the same time last year, according to recent police data.
KIM SMITH: This might actually be the first year in over a decade that Chicago ends the year with less than 500 homicides.
WOEFEL: That's Kim Smith, a director at the University of Chicago's Crime Lab, which studies gun violence prevention strategies. Less than 500 homicides in a year? That does not call for a victory lap. But Smith says the notable drop in violent crime proves something that many people working to thwart violence in Chicago already know.
SMITH: I know it's hard to believe, but Chicago is actually the birthplace of a lot of the strategies that we know work in preventing violence in communities.
WOEFEL: In recent years, the city and the federal government has invested in targeted violence intervention where often reformed gang members work the streets to prevent shootings. They go to hospitals to talk with victims and deter them from retaliating. They mentor and train young people, and they respond on a block-by-block basis to crime.
SMITH: I would hope that we wouldn't lose sight of a lot of the great work that's happened in Chicago amidst this national conversation about safe communities.
WOEFEL: The Justice Department recently slashed grant funding for violence intervention work in Chicago, leaving a $3.7 million hole. Many local leaders in Chicago are urging Washington to reinvest in proven solutions.
For NPR News, I'm Mariah Woefel in Chicago.
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