D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said President Donald Trump’s announcement that he is placing the police department under federal control and deploying the National Guard in the nation’s capital is an effort to use his authority to “intrude on our autonomy.”
Bowser said that while she disagrees that there is a crime crisis in the District, she would be following the law, which gives Trump and the federal government control of the police department for 30 days by statute.
鈥淲hile this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can鈥檛 say that, given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we鈥檙e totally surprised,鈥� Bowser said.
She said that she did not know what Trump鈥檚 announcement regarding D.C. policing would be before his news conference Monday morning.
鈥淚 did not know that the request of MPD would be made. I believed that they would announce that they were going to call up the National Guard,鈥� Bowser said. 鈥淚 had a one brief phone call related to the National Guard issue over the weekend.鈥�
Bowser added that D.C. police would still be reporting to the D.C. chief of police and the chief reports to the deputy mayor and the mayor of D.C.
鈥淢PD reports to the chief of police, and they are subject to D.C. and local laws, as well as federal laws,鈥� she said. 鈥淣othing about our organizational chart has changed, and nothing in the executive order would indicate otherwise.鈥�
It is unclear what the new agreement between D.C. police and federal authorities would look like under the new act or when it might start.
鈥淥n the heels of the announcement from the president today regarding the executive order, and my directive from the mayor, is that we will begin more intense planning efforts after I leave this press conference,鈥� said D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith at the news conference Monday afternoon.
Crime data reflects otherwise
Bowser reiterated Monday that crime is down in the District. She said that she believes that Trump鈥檚 impression of crime being up comes from the pandemic.
鈥淚 believe that the president’s view of D.C. is shaped by his COVID-era experience during his first term. And it is true that those were more challenging times related to some issues. It is also true that we experienced a crime spike post-COVID, but we worked quickly to put laws in place and tactics that got violent offenders off our streets and gave our police officers more tools, which is why we have seen a huge decrease in crime,鈥� she said.
She said that violent crime is at a 30-year low in the District and overall crime is below both the 2023 crime spike and down from 2019, prior to the pandemic.
At the end of the news conference, Bowser said she is going to work to make sure that D.C. residents have trust in the police department.
鈥淲hat could be a disaster is if we lose communities who won’t call the police 鈥� that could be a disaster. What would be a disaster if communities won’t talk to the police if a crime has been committed and could help solve that crime 鈥� that could be a disaster. It would be a disaster if people who aren’t committing crimes are antagonized into committing crimes 鈥� that would be a disaster,鈥� Bowser said.
The union representing D.C. police officers, however, is backing Trump鈥檚 takeover move, though it called for the federal intervention to be temporary.
D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said in a statement it agrees with the president that 鈥渋mmediate action is necessary鈥� to tamp down crime.
Still, Pemberton said that the District ultimately needs a police department that鈥檚 鈥渇ully staffed and supported.鈥� He also called for the repeal of criminal justice policies and laws passed by the city’s council.
‘All manufactured for him to take over DC’
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Protesters by the dozens were out on 16th Street just blocks from where Trump declared the public safety emergency. They waved signs reading, 鈥淣o National Guard鈥� and 鈥淔ree D.C.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 afraid people will believe him from other parts of the country, and I wish they would come and see for themselves what a peaceful, beautiful place D.C. is,鈥� said resident Susan Learmonth.
She was critical of the move to bring in the National Guard to combat crime. 鈥淗e spends a lot of money doing things that don’t help any of the problems we have,鈥� Learmonth said.
Others, such as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner David Sobelsohn, who represents an area in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, see it as an attack on the city鈥檚 independence.
鈥淲e have elected government in D.C. We have home rule. Don’t mess with our home rule! As limited as it is,鈥� Sobelsohn said.
He told 蜜桃视频app that he feels safe in the city despite being a four-time victim of assault in the District.
鈥淚t was years ago, and it hasn’t happened recently, and it’s really getting better and better. Our Advisory Neighborhood Commission has the police speaking to us every month to tell us the statistics, and the statistics have been improving for months and months and months,” Sobelsohn said.
Randy Kindle, a veteran who was protesting, told 蜜桃视频app, 鈥淎ll the troops in D.C., you have a choice on which side you’re on now, so I hope you do the right things and stand by your brothers and sisters in the streets.鈥�
Nadine Seiler was out in front of the White House for hours in the early morning, waving a large banner.
鈥淭his is all manufactured for him to take over D.C. As they said in the press conference, this is the start of it. However D.C. plays out, he’s going to go into other blue cities and do the same thing,鈥� she said.
Local leaders react
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said that Trump鈥檚 call for the move to federal police oversight is 鈥渦nprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful.鈥�
He said that there is no crime emergency in the District at this time, citing the same 30-year statistic the mayor shared.
鈥淲e are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents,鈥� Schwalb wrote.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore 鈥渄eeply dangerous.鈥� He said that calling in the National Guard lacks the data needed to make such a move.
鈥淎s someone who has served overseas in uniform and is commander-in-chief of the Maryland Guard, I take how, when, and why we deploy members of our armed forces personally and seriously,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淭hese actions by the president lack both data and a battle plan. He is simply using honorable men and women as pawns to distract us from his policies, which continue to drive up unemployment and strip away health care and food assistance from those who need it most.鈥�
Ward 2 D.C. Council Member Brooke Pinto told 蜜桃视频app鈥檚 Nick Iannelli that the way Trump says he is fighting crime in D.C. by federal control is the wrong approach.
鈥淭hat is not going to help us fight crime in this city, something that we are all focused on every single day,鈥� Pinto said. 鈥淚 take nothing more seriously than providing for the safety of our residents.鈥�
Pinto said that D.C police often work with federal law enforcement officers to manage national security events or special events like inauguration and Fourth of July, but having federal authorities take over everyday operations is unprecedented.
鈥淲hat is not baked into our process is to have the federal government essentially manage and oversee our local police department. We’re going to continue working very closely with our chief, who’s our chief locally, who’s responsible for carrying forward our laws that we pass at the D.C. Council, and doing so in a way that’s going to protect District residents,鈥� Pinto said.
Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau said it鈥檚 鈥渘ever good to have our federal government interfering in our local affairs.鈥�
The executive order, Nadeau said, allows the president to request the services of D.C. police. However, lawmakers are 鈥渟till waiting to see exactly how that plays out.鈥�
Nadeau said it鈥檚 too soon to know how exactly the Trump administration鈥檚 plan will be implemented, but it 鈥渋s not a complete takeover of MPD鈥� and Chief Smith remains in charge.
蜜桃视频app’s Luke Lukert and Scott Gelman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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