VESTAVIA HILLS— Ahead of a CoachSafely Foundation fundraiser event at the Vestavia Country Club on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) said he wouldn't hesitate to deploy the National Guard to the likes of Montgomery or Birmingham as governor to combat crime if necessary.
Tuberville said if there were problems in the state's major cities, sending the National Guard "would be one of the first things" he'd do to assist local law enforcement.
"Obviously, it depends. You know, that's a year and a half away, and hopefully things are better," Tuberville replied when asked what he would do if elected governor. "We have problems in a lot of areas in this state, and if you have a great family and a great education and are having a great life, but don't have safe streets and neighborhoods, then you have got a problem. And that's one of the freedoms of this country, and so yes, if we're having problems, it'd be one of the first things I would do to enhance the local and state law enforcement."
Tuberville dismissed the concern that would come with using the National Guard to assist with crime, adding that visibility was the "number one deterrent to crime."
"First of all, you'd have to weigh your local law enforcement and state law enforcement. They'd all have to work together. What you'd want is you want 24-hour, like President Trump's doing in Washington, D.C., which has been a total disaster by the way, since I've been there for five years, he is bringing in the National Guard to enhance and take the place of 24-hour shifts for state and local law enforcement," he explained. "That's what you'd do in this situation. It wouldn't be a situation where somebody is out there all the time. You would just have more access to law enforcement, and you would have more people in the streets. Again, visibility is the number one deterrent to crime. And it's working in D.C. It'd obviously work here."
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