President Donald Trump has ordered the National Guard and the Justice Department to take over Washington, D.C.’s police department and streets to address his claims of rampant violent crime and homelessness. He announced the federal takeover even though violent crime in the District last year was at a three-decade low.
At a news conference on Monday, Trump said he is federalizing law enforcement in the nation’s capital to protect the city from muggings, murders and other violent crime.
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“This is liberation day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back,” he told the room.
According to Metropolitan Police crime stats, violent crime is down 26% in the District of Columbia compared to the same time in 2024.
Trump’s claim also contradicts data on crime trends compiled by the Justice Department. The DOJ said on Jan. 3 that violent crime in 2024 was 35% lower than that of 2023, the lowest the city has seen in more than 30 years.
Trump noted Attorney General Pam Bondi and officials from the Department of Defense will be taking over the District’s police department.
D.C. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen criticized Trump’s plan on X. He said deploying the National Guard to the city’s streets won’t make people feel safer because the soldiers are trained for warfare and responding to natural disasters.
“Today’s announcement will put untrained and unaccountable members of the military in an untenable position in our communities,” Allen wrote. “It’s unnecessary, unwarranted, & a dangerous escalation of power in the Nation’s Capital simply because he can.”
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The Justice Department found that in 2024, Washington, D.C. saw a 35% reduction in violent crime compared to 2023 — the lowest the city’s seen in more than 30 years.
Can Washington be federalized?
Trump signed two executive orders ahead of his Monday morning announcement. One declared a “crime emergency” to protect federal employees from being subject to violence. The other order is targeted to “restoring law and order” in the area using the Department of Defense.
“Citizens, tourists, and staff alike are unable to live peacefully in the Nation’s capital, which is under siege from violent crime,” Trump wrote in the order.
Michael O’Neill, vice president of legal affairs at the Landmark Legal Foundation, noted the district was created with the intent of all federal agencies to house their headquarters there. Federal rule changed in 1973 when the Home Rule Act passed Congress, giving D.C. residents control over their city with a mayor and council.
The foundation is a conservative civil rights group.
O’Neill said there’s a provision in the act that allows a president to federalize the city’s police department in order to restore control when an emergency is declared. He added Congress would be called in to review that a restoration in law and order actually happened.
“Congress is going to have a role here to play to ensure that the safety that’s restored endures,” he told Straight Arrow News.
Who decides when the emergency ends is tricky. O’Neill said Congress would need to formally extend the provision, but determining if an emergency exists is still within the president’s power.
Typically, under section 740 of the law, federal control of the district would revert back to the mayor after 30 days.
That didn’t comfort the District’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who wrote on X, calling the administration’s actions “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.”
“There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” he wrote. “Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Muriel Bowser, in a press conference following the president’s executive order on Monday, said that crime today is even lower than pre-pandemic levels and noted that efforts to reduce crime continue.
“We’re not satisfied, we haven’t taken our foot off the gas and we continue look for ways to make our city safer,” she said.
“Chief Pamela Smith is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department and its 3,100 members who work under her direction. The Home Rule charter requires the mayor to provide the services of MPD during special conditions of an emergency, and we will follow the law.”
Low crime rates in D.C.
Trump teased his plan earlier this month on Truth Social where he shared photos of people sleeping on the city’s streets and tents in open areas. He said his plan would make the area safer and more beautiful.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”
His actions follow reports that a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer, Edward Coristine, was beaten in a carjacking attempt. He said at the time, the city’s crime was “totally out of control” and threatened a federal takeover, despite falling crime rates. Trump also zeroed in on youth suspects, suggesting in a Truth Social post that anyone over 13 should be tried as adults and jailed for long periods of time.
In January, the Justice Department announced that the District of Columbia experienced its lowest crime rates in 2024. Compared to 2023, the department recorded the following drops in crime:
- Homicides down 32%;
- Robberies down 39%;
- Armed carjackings down 53%;
- Assault with a dangerous weapon down 27%.
Former U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves credited the decrease to his office and the Metropolitan Police Department focusing on the “drivers of violence — those gangs or crews of people who are dealing drugs, protecting turf, committing carjackings and other robberies, while armed.”
A direct result of that, Graves added, was securing sentences for a group who operated a drug market in the southern portions of the city. Once they were removed, the MPD recorded a 66% reduction in violent crime a year after their sentences, and 56% reduction in the following two years.
Graves credited the department and city’s partnership in prosecuting firearm offenses. That included a case-by-case review of each suspect and the firearm seized to decide if the case will go to the U.S. District Court or D.C. Superior Court.
“While any crime is one too many, every local leader in DC is committed to the work and progress of safer communities and preventing violence,” Allen wrote.
