State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) addressed the possibility of President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to Birmingham to fight the city's high crime rate during a conversation earlier this week on WVNN's "The Dale Jackson Show."
The North Alabama lawmaker told Jackson that he believes Alabama's second-largest city needs to show visible progress to avoid the scenario, something he says is currently not happening.
"I don't know what the leadership in Birmingham is thinking," said Orr. "They have a problem; you've seen very little action in the last three to four years to address the murder rate and other crime problems. There hasn't been a whole lot done. There's been some window dressing, but getting down to the really strong, enforced policing, in my last recollection, they were tremendously understaffed in their police department. So, I don't know how serious they've been."
Orr issued a warning to the leaders of Birmingham that if the military proves successful in lowering the crime rate in Memphis and serious changes aren't made in law enforcement, the Magic City could be next to see soldiers on its streets protecting residents.
"If the National Guard is successful in Memphis, and that goes well, and you see the needle really moving backwards as far as crime in the city, I could see that very same thing happening in our state if Birmingham doesn't get its act together," he asserted.
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