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As a cautious Washington anticipated developments, the White House committed to deploying more National Guard troops and federal officers in the nation’s capital around the clock beginning today. This decision followed days after US President Donald Trump’s unprecedented declaration that his administration would commandeer the city’s police department for at least a month.
The city’s Democratic mayor navigated a political dilemma, describing the takeover as an “authoritarian push” initially, then later presenting the additional officers as a means to enhance public safety, though specifics for measuring success remained vague.
The Republican president claimed that crime in the city had reached emergency levels that only federal intervention could resolve, although District of Columbia officials highlighted statistics that showed violent crime at a 30-year low following a significant rise two years prior.
Violent crime has dropped in the district
This federal initiative is occurring despite a reduction in violent crime in the nation’s capital, a trend specialists have observed in cities across the US since a rise during the coronavirus pandemic.
Generally, Washington’s violence level remains higher than averages in over 30 cities analyzed by the non-profit organization Council on Criminal Justice, according to the group’s president and CEO, Adam Gelb.
During an interview with the local Fox affiliate, Police Chief Pamela Smith mentioned that the city’s Metro Police Department is short nearly 800 officers.
She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials on Tuesday.
But, she said, “I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.”
She had previously called Trump’s moves “unsettling and unprecedented” while pointing out he was within a president’s legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government but is not a state.
For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-racking.
“I’ve seen them right here at the subway … they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,” Washington native Sheina Taylor said.
“It’s more fearful now because even though you’re a law-abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don’t know, especially because I’m African American.”
