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The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
A tale of two Chief Pams: Federal takeover brings confusion over command of DC police
Attorney General Pam Bondi is effectively in charge of the police department in Washington, D.C. — so says the White House. But the city's police force already has a Pam at the helm — Chief Pamela Smith — and she says she only reports to the mayor. D.C. and federal officials say they are working together after President Donald Trump announced he was placing the police department in the nation's capital under federal control to crack down on violent crime. But despite the unified tone, the unusual arrangement is raising questions about who gets to make decisions about D.C. police resources, personnel and policy and — in the event of a disagreement — which Pam gets the final say. According to D.C. leaders, the attorney general can request services of the mayor, but nothing has changed when it comes to the chain of command and the department's funding. And when pressed Tuesday about who she reports to in light of the federal takeover, Smith said: 'I answer to Mayor Muriel Bowser.' 'Let us not have any controversy with that, OK?' Smith told reporters outside the Justice Department after meeting with Bondi and other federal officials. 'Because I know people want to build upon and create division. We're here to work together with our federal partners, and that's what we're going to do.' Yet hours later, the White House struck a different tone, suggesting the ultimate authority lies in the hands of Bondi and Terry Cole, the Drug Enforcement Administration director whom Trump has tapped to serve as interim federal administrator of the police force. 'We plan to work with the Metropolitan Police Department, but ultimately, the chain of command is as such: the president of the United States, the attorney general of the United States, our DEA administrator, Terry Cole, who is now serving head of the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Cole is working with Smith 'to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in the city,' Leavitt said. Justice Department officials have not answered questions about whether the Trump administration believes it has the authority to make decisions about D.C. personnel, and whether the attorney general has issued any new orders for the police force. Smith took on her role as police chief in the nation's capital in November 2023 and briefly served in other units, including the homeland security bureau. She also led the police force's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and had served as chief of the United States Park Police after a long career in that federal force. The law allows Trump to take over the D.C. police for up to 30 days, though the White House has suggested it could last longer as authorities later 'reevaluate and reassess.' Extending federal control past that time would require congressional approval, something likely tough to achieve in the face of Democratic resistance. Hundreds of federal officers from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies have been doing overnight patrols in Washington since last week. Cole said federal officers would be 'embedded' with D.C. police to patrol the streets, but did not offer specific details on what would change in the chain of command. Even so, he described Smith as 'very accommodating' and said she was sharing ideas, giving him an office at police headquarters, and introducing him to staff. 'We have tremendous cooperation, tremendous intel sharing, and what's most encouraging, the police are looking forward to doing their job again,' Cole said in a Fox News interview.
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
More than 140 people have reported crimes to Al Fayed investigation
The Metropolitan Police have said 146 people have come forward to report a crime as part of their investigation into former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed. The number of reports was revealed as part of a video update sent to alleged victims earlier this week. It comes a month after Scotland Yard apologised to alleged victims for the distress they have suffered. In a letter leaked to the BBC, the officer leading the investigation said she was 'acutely aware the case is especially distressing to all those who have suffered'. 'Not least due to the fact that the main suspect will now never directly face justice for his crimes and, for this, I am truly sorry,' Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Craggs wrote. Al Fayed died in 2023 aged 94. The Met is currently conducting an investigation into how it handled historical allegations of offending by the tycoon. It will also look into any potential facilitators and enablers, and whether any misconduct or corruption occurred. A spokesperson for the force said: 'The live investigation into those who could have facilitated or enabled Mohamed Al Fayed's offending continues. 'The way the Met works has moved on immeasurably, and our teams have transformed the way we investigate rape and sexual offences. 'We're working with partners across the criminal justice system to ensure that victim-survivors are at the heart of our response, with a greater focus on suspects and their offending. 'We continue to support all victims and we urge anyone with information, whether they were directly affected by Mohamed Al Fayed's actions, or aware of others who may have been involved or committed offences, to come forward. 'We cannot comment further at this time, but will provide an update as soon as we are able to and where this won't jeopardise criminal or other proceedings.' The force is expected to provide more written or video updates to victims over the coming months. In November, it said detectives were investigating more than five people who may have facilitated the former Harrods boss in his alleged sexual abuse of dozens of women and girls. They are looking at individuals surrounding the businessman who could have enabled him to commit crimes which are claimed to have spanned decades between 1977 and 2014. The force is also facing allegations of police corruption, with The Guardian newspaper reporting that officers were accused of taking bribes to help him persecute staff and avoid accusations of abuse. The Met said it has transformed the way it investigates rape and serious sexual offences and is doing more to put victim-survivors at the heart of its response to these crimes. More than 100 survivors of alleged sexual abuse by Al Fayed have entered Harrods' redress scheme, the department store said last month.
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump wants to extend federal control over Washington police
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would ask congressional Republicans to extend federal control of Washington's city police force beyond 30 days, escalating his campaign to exert presidential power over the nation's capital. Trump also asserted that any congressional action could serve as a model for other U.S. cities. He has previously threatened to expand his efforts to other Democratic-run cities such as Chicago that he claims have failed to address crime. It was not clear how Trump's takeover of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department could be replicated elsewhere. In seizing control on Monday, Trump took advantage of a federal law, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, that permits the president to do so under emergency circumstances for up to 30 days. Trump also announced on Monday that he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to the city, a tactic he employed in Los Angeles in June when he mobilized thousands of Guard soldiers and hundreds of U.S. Marines in response to protests over his administration's immigration raids. Separately, hundreds of federal officers and agents from more than a dozen agencies have fanned out across Washington in recent days. Trump's extraordinary moves in Washington are reflective of how he has approached his second term in office, shattering political norms and legal concerns to test the limits of his office's power. The Republican president has claimed the U.S. capital is gripped by a wave of violent crime and pervasive homelessness, despite both federal and city crime statistics showing that violent crime has declined precipitously since a spike in 2023. The office of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, declined to respond on Trump's latest comments. Bowser has sought to strike a diplomatic tone, even as she has cited statistics showing the city's violent crime rate hit a 30-year low last year. More than 1,450 law enforcement personnel were on patrol in Washington on Tuesday night, a White House official said, including 30 National Guard troops and 750 city police officers assigned to the "anti-crime" operation. The official said the White House expects a "significantly higher" presence of Guard soldiers on Wednesday night. The effort has resulted in 103 arrests since Aug. 7, which includes 43 on Tuesday, the official said. The charges include one homicide charge, 33 firearms charges and 23 immigration charges, the official said, and have led to 24 seized firearms. During the same period in 2024, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested 364 people in total, police data shows, including traffic and liquor law violations as well as murder, prostitution, carjacking, assault, theft, burglary and robbery. The MPD data shows that police made 20,386 adult arrests in 2024, an average of 56 arrests a day. As of Tuesday, city officials said they were still in command of the department and had received no new orders from the administration, the Washington Post reported. The Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday referred all questions about arrests involving federal agents to the White House. Asked for comment on Trump's call for congressional action, House Speaker Mike Johnson's office pointed to his social media response to the president's action on Monday: "President Trump is RIGHT. We can't allow crime to destroy our Nation's Capital." However, any legislation to extend Trump's control over the police department would likely fail in the Senate, where Democrats can use procedural rules to block most bills. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that if Congress fails to act, he can declare a "national emergency" to extend the 30-day limit, though legal experts expressed skepticism about that claim. "There's nothing about the president extending past 30 days unilaterally," Claire Finkelstein, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, said of the Home Rule Act. "If the 30 days are up, that's that." The president has used emergency declarations to justify numerous unprecedented executive actions, including historically high tariffs on foreign imports and his wide-ranging immigration crackdown. Many have drawn lawsuits challenging his authority. In both Washington and Los Angeles, Trump bypassed or ignored objections from elected local leaders. A federal trial on whether Trump violated the law in Los Angeles by calling up the National Guard over the objections of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is underway in San Francisco.
