Trump DOJ Offers $300 Million for Memphis-Style Police Surges as Cities Face Ideological Conditions
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 10
Trump DOJ Offers $300 Million for Memphis-Style Police Surges as Cities Face Ideological Conditions
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 10
Summary
$300 million in Justice Department grants will be split among two to four cities over three years if they adopt “Memphis-style” policing surges and win approval next month as Model Cities finalists.
Grant terms require cities to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, crack down on homelessness, open drug use and loitering, and accept a repayment clause for future federal intervention costs tied to violent crime or unrest.
That reimbursement provision appears unprecedented, former Biden DOJ official Amy Solomon said, and the awards would be screened by senior political appointees rather than the usual peer-review process.
Memphis and Washington, DC — both cited as models with National Guard troops on the streets — have drawn scrutiny after four officer-involved deaths in Memphis since the task force launched last September.
Resistance is already emerging: Montgomery’s mayor said he would not apply, Billings voted 9-1 against forwarding an application, and San Bernardino pulled the issue after public backlash.
Could a massive $300 million federal policing grant secretly bankrupt the very cities it promises to protect?
The $300 Million Model Cities Initiative: Federal Power, Surveillance Expansion, and the Erosion of Local Public Safety Alternatives
Overview
The 2026 Model Cities Initiative (MCI) launched by the DOJ offers $300 million in public safety grants but comes with strict conservative mandates and a controversial reimbursement clause. This has sparked strong resistance in cities like Montgomery, Billings, and San Bernardino, where leaders and residents fear federal overreach and militarization. The Memphis Safe Task Force, an earlier model, showed that aggressive federal interventions led to community fear, economic harm, and only short-lived crime reductions. As a result, many cities are rejecting MCI funding, highlighting a growing divide over federal control, local autonomy, and the true costs of such policing strategies.