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The MSNBC presenter, Symone Sanders-Towsend, backed up a greater police presence in DC, claiming during a panel on Tuesday that, as a black woman, she does not believe that more officers make communities more secure, particularly in predominantly black neighborhoods.
Sanders-Towsend, who served as chief spokesman and main advisor of former vice president Kamala Harris before joining MSNBC in 2022, spoke about the new initiative of President Donald Trump to stop the crime in the capital of the nation.
Trump announced Monday that he plans to deploy approximately 800 troops from the National Guard and assume the supervision of the Metropolitan Police Department to address the growing crime in Washington, DC, the announcement caused shock waves in the media, but some, such as Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, hinted that there may be some truth for Trump saying that there is a crisis.
“There has been a problem in DC, it is not as bad as it was 2 or 3 years ago, but it is not as safe as Manhattan. It is not as safe as the capital of the nation should be.
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Symone Sanders Towsend, Coanfrerion of The Weeknight of MSNBC, former spokesman chief of vice president Harris appears in “Meet the Press” at Washington DC on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Photo of: Shannon Finney/NBC through Getty Images)
Sanders-Towsend seemed openly surprised by Scarborough's words and retreated, citing his experience how to have lived in DC during the last 10 years and her husband directed the metropolitan of the Washington restaurant association.
“The violence amplified by some real acts of violence is perceived,” he said before adding: “The way I heard that DC is described this morning is as if it were a city under siege, as if it were a dangerous place, grabbing the pearls, you have to keep your bag under your dress when you leave the house. And that is not true.”
She said the conversation revolves around these cases of “youth crime” that Trump is using as a pretext for his “authoritatrain overreach.”
Sanders-Towsend argued that there is hardly enough real crime to make people think that Trump can have some legitimate reason to take such measures, but all the time, people “ignore the fact that more police officers in the street will not solve the issue of youth crime.”
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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, talks about the press about the deployment of federal agents of the law in Washington to reinforce the presence of the local police in the press report in the White House, in Washington DC, USA. UU., August 11, 2025. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Reuters)
Scarborough urged her to clarify, asking: “Don't you think that more police make the streets safer?”
“No, Joe. I am a black woman in the United States,” he said. “I don't always think that more police make more safe streets. When you walk through the streets of Georgetown, you don't see a police officer in each corner, but you don't feel insecure.”
“So what do you have to talk about places like Southeast DC, right, Ward 8, so to speak, that people say: 'Well, we need more officers to do us safe?' I think we have to rethink what security means in the United States, “said Sanders-Towsend.
The crime in the capital city of the United States of Washington, DC, has been a constantly controversial issue, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic aggravated many problems in the main cities of the United States. ((Photo of Str/Nurphoto through Getty Images))
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