() Officials in Washington, D.C., claimed victory Friday after a judge blocked the Trump administration from appointing a federal official to take over the local police department as the White House rolls out a law enforcement crackdown in the nation’s capital.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had issued an order that sought to give DEA Administrator Terry Cole control of the District of Columbia’s police force of 3,200 officers on an emergency basis.
“A hostile takeover of our police force is not going to happen. Chief [Pamela] Smith remains in control of the police department under the supervision of our mayor,” Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said at a news conference with Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Schwalb legally challenged the Trump administration’s takeover of the police department, saying it violated D.C.’s home-rule charter.
Local officials reportedly are working with the Trump administration on other details of Bondi’s order in hopes of reaching an agreement.
The Trump administration’s efforts to beef up security in Washington, D.C., followed the president’s public complaints that crime was out of control in the District of Columbia.
