DC police accused of fixing crime knowledge earlier than Trump federalization

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Simply weeks earlier than President Donald Trump federalized the Washington, D.C., police power over crime woes, the Metropolitan Police Division was hit with accusations of allegedly juking crime stats for extra favorable outcomes.

"When our members reply to the scene of a felony offense the place there's a sufferer reporting {that a} felony occurred, inevitably there will likely be a lieutenant or a captain that can present up on that scene and direct these members to take a report for a lesser offense," D.C. Police Union chairman Gregg Pemberton instructed NBC Washington in July of an alleged development to control crime stats.

"So, as a substitute of taking a report for a capturing or a stabbing or a carjacking, they are going to order that officer to take a report for a theft or an injured individual to the hospital or a felony assault, which isn't the identical sort of classification."

The accusations from the union chief adopted the police division suspending Washington, D.C., police commander Michael Pulliam in mid-Might for allegedly altering crime statistics in his district, native media reported in July.

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The Metropolitan Police Division in Washington, D.C., is accused of fixing crime stats. (Getty Photos)

The police commander was accused of falsifying crime knowledge to make crime tendencies look extra favorable for the town, however has denied the allegations. Per week earlier than his suspension, Pulliam filed an equal employment alternative criticism towards a higher-up, native outlet NBC Washington reported.

Pulliam is at present beneath investigation over allegedly altering stats. The Metropolitan Police Division instructed Fox Information Digital Thursday, when requested for added remark and updates on the case, that it "doesn't touch upon inner investigations or personnel issues."

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The accusations over altering crime stats have been quickly adopted by Trump federalizing the police division on Monday in response to a spate of high-profile killings and assaults, in addition to against the law wave within the District that has endured for the reason that 2020 period. The president federalized the native police division beneath part 740 of the District of Columbia House Rule Act, which permits the president to imagine emergency management of the capital's police power for 30 days.

President Donald Trump speaks to the press about deploying federal legislation enforcement brokers in Washington, D.C., Aug. 11, 2025. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

"Our capital metropolis has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of untamed youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless folks," Trump mentioned Monday. "And we're not going to let it occur anymore. We're not going to take it."

"We're taking it again beneath the authority vested in me because the president of the USA, I am formally invoking part 740 of the District of Columbia House Rule Act," he added. "You understand what that's. And putting the D.C. Metropolitan Police Division beneath direct federal management.… As well as, I am deploying the Nationwide Guard to assist reestablish legislation, order and public security in Washington, D.C. And they are going to be allowed to do their job correctly."

On Thursday, Trump railed towards the accusations of manipulating crime knowledge within the District.

"They're beneath investigation proper now," Trump mentioned Thursday throughout an Oval Workplace press convention. "They're giving this phony crime stats identical to they gave different stats within the monetary world. However they're phony crime stats. And Washington, D.C., is at its worst level, and it'll quickly be at its greatest level. You are gonna have a really secure, you are going to have a crime-free metropolis."

Trump-aligned authorized group America First Authorized Basis, which was based by White Home advisor Stephen Miller, completely instructed Fox Digital Thursday that it filed a FOIA request looking for all crime information and knowledge compiled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Division, together with any information "reflecting the falsification or non-publication" of crime knowledge and statistics.

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Democratic lawmakers and native liberal leaders have slammed Trump over federalizing the town – which has included a whole bunch of Nationwide Guard members flooding D.C., in addition to legislation enforcement officers from businesses such because the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Capitol Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helping with Trump's legislation and order crackdown – claiming crime is at a 30-year low.

Cops arrange a roadside checkpoint on 14th Road Northwest on Aug. 13, 2025, in Washington, following the federalization of the D.C. police. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Photos)

"Violent crime in Washington, D.C. is at a 30-year low," Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., mentioned Monday. " Donald Trump has no foundation to take over the native police division. And 0 credibility on the difficulty of legislation and order. Get misplaced."

"As you hearken to an unhinged Trump attempt to justify deploying the Nationwide Guard in DC, here is actuality: Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low," former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posted to X .

Washington, D.C., was among the many cities caught up in a spiking nationwide crime development in 2020 – when the COVID-19 pandemic raged and protests and riots overtook cities nationwide – recording 198 homicides that year , which marked a 16-year excessive for the town. Homicides jumped to 226 in 2021, edged right down to 203 in 2022 and soared in 2023 to 274 – a 20-year excessive.

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D.C. noticed homicides drop by roughly 31% from 2023 to 2024, in line with year-end Metropolitan Police Division knowledge reporting 187 in 2024. The info exhibits violent crime throughout the board fell by roughly 35% from 2023, when the division reported 5,345 incidents, to 2024, when it reported 3,469.

Legislation enforcement officers make arrests following President Trump's federalization of the town. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Photos)

A research printed in July by the Council on Prison Justice discovered the probabilities of an individual dealing with a violent crime in Washington, D.C., have dropped in recent times, however the potential for dying throughout such against the law has skyrocketed.

The research examined violent crime knowledge from 17 giant U.S. cities between 2018 and 2024, particularly investigating the lethality of violent crimes in these cities. It discovered Washington, D.C., had the very best lethality degree out of the group – which included Baltimore and Chicago – at a 38% enhance in lethality in 2024 in contrast with 2018.

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Lethality in D.C. jumped by a whopping 341% when in comparison with 2012 knowledge, the research discovered, reporting that there have been 13 homicides per 1,000 severe violent crimes in 2012 to 57 homicides per 1,000 severe violent crimes in 2024.

The research outlined lethality as "the variety of homicides per aggravated assaults and robberies."

President Donald Trump introduced the federalization of Washington, D.C.'s police power on Aug. 11, 2025. (Getty)

"You've got much less likelihood of being victimized, however in case you are victimized, you've gotten extra of an opportunity of dying," John Jay adjunct lecturer Jillian Snider, a retired New York Police Division officer, instructed Fox Information Digital Tuesday of violent crime tendencies within the nation's capital.

The District's police union chief instructed Fox Information Monday that it helps Trump's federalization whereas slamming claims crime has ticked down within the metropolis.

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"We fully agree with the president right here that crime within the district is uncontrolled and one thing must be about it," Pemberton mentioned in help of Trump's actions throughout an interview on FOX Business . "This idea that crime is down is basically an outdated trope. They're utilizing statistics in a manner that makes it seem that crime goes down, however our rank-in-file officers know that we're going name to name to name, for armed carjackings, stabbings, robberies, shootings, homicides and the crime is not going anyplace."