WASHINGTON, DC- President Trump’s decision to federalize the DC Metro Police Department and also deploy the National Guard and federal law enforcement agencies in the city was met with derision from Democrats and their lapdog media, which claimed that crime in the nation’s capital was “down” and the president was overreacting. That came from “statistics” that purported to show crime was down.
Now, it is being reported that only weeks before the president took his decisive action, the DC Metro Police Department was hit with accusations that it was tweaking crime statistics to give the appearance that crime was down in the city. Moreover, there are also accusations that certain crimes in the city were classified as lesser offenses to make it look like violent crime is down, Fox News Digital reports.
“When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that wil show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense,” DC Police Union chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC Washington in July, That, Pemberton alleged, was to manipulate crime stats.
“So instead of taking a report for a shooting or a stabbing or a carjacking, they will order that officer to take a report for a theft or an injured person to the hospital or a felony assault, which is not the same type of classification,” Pemberton continued.
In May, DC police commander Michael Pulliam was suspended for allegedly changing crime statistics in his district, as reported by local media in July.
Pulliam was accused of falsifying crime data to make crime trends favor the city, however, he has denied those allegations. Fox News Digital reached out to the DC Metro Police Department to ask for additional comment and updates on Pulliam’s case, however, the agency said it “does not comment on internal investigations or personnel matters.”
On August 11, President Trump federalized the police department after a series of high-profile attacks in the city, including the murders of a man and a woman who worked for the Israeli embassy in the city, and the brutal assault of a DOGE team member who fought off a group of teens trying to carjack his vehicle.
Under the 1970s era Home Rule Act, President Trump federalized the department under section 740 of that act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the agency for 30 days, with the ability to extend that control for additional 30-day periods.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs, and homeless people,” the president said Monday. “And we’re not going to let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it.”
“We’re taking it back under the authority vested in me as president of the United States. I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act,” he added. “You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control…In addition, I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order, and public safety in Washington, D.C. And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”
On Thursday, the president slammed the apparent manipulation of crime statistics by the department.
“They are under investigation right now,” Trump said in an Oval Office press conference. “They are giving this phony crime stats just like they gave other stats in the financial world. But they’re phony crime stats. And Washington, D.C. is at its worst point, and it will soon be at its best point. You’re gonna have a very safe, you’re going to have a crime-free city.”
America First Legal, founded by WHite House adviser Stephen Miller, told Fox News Digital last week that it has filed a FOIA request seeking all crime records and data compiled by the DC Metro Police Department, including any records “reflecting the falsification or non-publication” of crime data and statistics.
The revelation of the department playing fast and loose with crime statistics hasn’t swayed Democrats and local liberals from slamming the president over his move to federalize the department and deploy federal agents on the streets of the nation’s capital.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) parroted the bogus crime statistics to criticize the president.
“Violent crime in Washington, D.C. is at a 30-year low,” Jeffries claimed. “Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order. Get lost.”
Jeffries was apparently alluding to the Jan. 6, 2021, “insurrection,” which, despite evidence to the contrary, Democrats have tried to pin on Trump.
Failed presidential candidate and serial whiner Hillary Clinton also railed against the move, posting on X: “As you listen to an unhinged Trump try to justify the National Guard in DC, here’s reality: Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low,” also citing the questionable crime stats.
According to a study by the Council on Criminal Justice, the chances of a person facing violent crime in Washington, DC, have dropped in recent years, however, the possibility of dying from such a crime has skyrocketed.
The study looked at violent crime data from 17 large American cities between 2018 and 2024, specifically examining the lethality of violent crime in those cities.
It found that Washington, D.C. has the highest lethality level out of the group, which included killing field cities such as Baltimore and Chicago, at a 38% increase in lethality in 2024 compared to 2018.
Compared to 2012, lethality in our nation’s capital jumped by 342%, noting there were 13 homicides per 1,000 serious crimes in 2012, which exploded to 57 deaths per 1,000 serious crimes in 2024. The study defined lethality as “the number of homicides per aggravated assaults and robberies,” Fox News Digital reported.
“You have less chance of being victimized, but if you are victimized, you have more of a chance of dying,” John Jay adjunct lecturer Jillian Snider, a retired NYPD officer, told Fox News Digital.
For Democrats, the only important thing is the former statistic. Crime is (allegedly) down, but if you’re a victim, too bad for you. Once again, on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue.
Comments
2025-11-05T16:39-0500 | Comment by: Laurence
Such falsifying and manipulation of crime figures is common in the DemoCommunist states. San Francisco and other blue cities play the same tricks to make their cities seem safer than they actually are. Which means encouraging the criminal element to continue their activities.