On Monday, President Donald Trump declared a sweeping “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., invoking Section 740 of the Home Rule Act to put the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploy the National Guard with no set end date.
The response from city leadership was swift.
“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that, given some of the rhetoric of the past, we’re totally surprised,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
Bowser said the Trump administration is using outdated crime statistics and ignoring the progress D.C. has made. She pointed to a sharp drop in violent crime this year, with homicides down more than 20% and carjackings cut nearly in half compared to 2024.
Police Chief Pamela Smith said MPD will comply with the order but stressed that her officers remain focused on local priorities — targeting violent crime hotspots, protecting nightlife districts, enforcing juvenile curfew zones, and working with federal partners to keep residents and visitors safe.
This is the most aggressive federal intervention in D.C. in decades.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
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