1,000 National Guard troops may be coming to Baton Rouge and New Orleans, following the deployment of troops in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and now Memphis.

While no official orders have been made yet, a plan is in development and has Gov. Landry’s support.

The recent proposal has gained mixed criticism across the country, and many have begun to say, “This can’t be the only option to keep our cities safe.”

Department of Sociology Associate Professor Seth Williams believes there are other options that offer more long-term solutions than using military force.

“We have decades of evidence on community based strategies that do reduce violence, so things like youth programs, job training programs, drug treatment centers,” said Williams. “Those were all central to the great crime decline we experienced in the ’90s. 
So to sum it all that up, if we want lasting reductions in violence, the evidence is clear, we need to invest in communities, invest in prevention efforts, and support local organizations that are already working on the ground.”

Residents in Baton Rouge and New Orleans are waiting to see how the proposal will affect their neighborhoods.