# Who would handle civil disorder in Washington D.C.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036 "2014-10-11T13:42:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/1 "2014-10-11T13:42:28Z")
If a situation degenerates beyond the control of local police, states call in their National Guard. But afaik, D.C. doesn’t have a Guard. Federal troops? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/2 "2014-10-11T13:55:08Z")
Yes, DC has a National Guard. There are also interstate compacts which assure that other Guard units can be sent across borders to respond to emergencies. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/3 "2014-10-11T13:58:30Z")
There actually is a District of Columbia Army National Guard: > **[District of Columbia Army National Guard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Army_National_Guard)** > > The District of Columbia Army National Guard is the Army component of the District of Columbia National Guard. As the District of Columbia is a federal district and not a state, the guard is placed under the authority of the President of the United States, unlike most other National Guard units which are headed by their state's governor. > The District of Columbia Army National Guard was formed in 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson to defend the newly created District of Columbia. It has always be... It was activated during the [1968 Washington, D.C. riots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Washington,_D.C._riots). ---
**Author:** ![Toastmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Toastmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toastmaker)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/4 "2014-10-11T14:00:55Z")
Exactly. the Air National Guard unit at Andrews AFB in Maryland, flying F-16’s and responsible for protective air cover of the D.C. region is a D.C. Guard unit, not Maryland . ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/5 "2014-10-11T16:42:04Z")
The National Guard piece has been covered (and it exists in territories too). At the law enforcement level, before the modern descendants of the militia would be called in, there are cross jurisdiction compacts allowing LEOs from outside jurisdiction to be utilized. I’m not sure if any are in place or specific laws related to DC or the surrounding states would even allow it but it seems like a possibility. Despite not being limited by Posse Commitatus National Guard are not law enforcement with all the powers of law enforcement. Actual law enforcement has some advantages. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/6 "2014-10-11T17:08:28Z")
When the Metropolitan Police get overwhelmed the Park Police step in first. Then as already mentioned the National Guard would step in. It wouldn’t be a tough decision for the President to call in the military if things got worse than those forces could handle. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-handle-civil-disorder-in-washington-d-c/701036/7 "2014-10-11T20:49:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It wouldn’t be a tough decision for the President to call in the military if things got worse than those forces could handle. It depends on the reason for the civil disorder. Are you acquainted with the 1932 Bonus Army situation? > [@](#): > > The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. … > > Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Each service certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier’s promised payment plus compound interest. The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their certificates. > > … On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. Veterans were also shot dead at other locations during the demonstration. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans’ campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned. > **[Bonus Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army)** > > U.S. Army > Walter W. Waters > The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – 17,000 veterans of U.S. involvement in World War I, their families, and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C., in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates. Organizers called the demonstrators the Bonus Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.), to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Forces, while the media referred to them as the "Bonus Army" or "Bonus March...