National Guard not needed in Memphis, former police director says
President Donald Trump announced in a Friday, Sept. 12, television appearance that he would send the National Guard to Memphis. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
One of the last times the National Guard was called into Memphis, the city was a different place.
It was the summer of 1978. Simultaneous police and fire union strikes and a city-wide blackout prompted late Memphis Mayor Wyeth Chandler to declare a civil emergency and call in the guard.
The power of the state military force was helpful and needed then, according to Buddy Chapman, who was director of the Memphis Police Department at the time. But with recent news that the guard is making a return to the Bluff City, Chapman said he feels differently this time around.
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Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming covers public safety for The Daily Memphian, focusing on crime and the local court system. He earned his bachelor’s in journalism and strategic media from the University of Memphis.
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