DOJ investigating possible DC crime data manipulation amid Trump's crackdown on violence

Fox News

10 hours ago

The Department of Justice is investigating claims that the Washington, D.C., police department manipulated crime data to publish more favorable stats, sources told Fox News.
Two sources briefed on the matter confirmed to Fox News that the DOJ is looking into whether crime data out of the nation's capital was manipulated. The reported investigation follows President Donald Trump railing against allegations that such crime data was manipulated to show violence is trending down in the city.
"D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety," Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday morning. "This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do, and they are under serious investigation for so doing! Until 4 days ago, Washington, D.C., was the most unsafe "city" in the United States, and perhaps the World. Now, in just a short period of time, it is perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour! People are flocking to D.C. again, and soon, the beautification will begin!"
Trump federalized the Metropolitan Police Department Aug. 11 in response to a spate of high-profile killings and attacks, and a crime wave in the District that has persisted since 2020. Trump federalized the local police department under section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital's police force for 30 days.
Just weeks before Trump federalized the force — which includes hundreds of National Guard members and various federal law enforcement agents converging on the city — the D.C. police department was accused of changing crime numbers to publish more favorable data.
"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 will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense," D.C. Police Union chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC Washington in July of an alleged trend 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," he alleged.
The accusations from the union chief followed the police department suspending Washington, D.C., police Commander Michael Pulliam in mid-May for allegedly changing crime statistics in his district, local media reported in July.
The police commander was accused of falsifying crime data to make crime trends look more favorable for the city, but has denied the allegations. A week before his suspension, Pulliam filed an equal employment opportunity complaint against a higher-up, local outlet NBC Washington reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office and the Metropolitan Police Department for comment on the DOJ's investigation into the claims of manipulating data but did not immediately receive replies Tuesday afternoon.
Democrat lawmakers and leaders, and some local residents, have slammed Trump over federalizing the city, claiming recent violent crimes have trended downward and that there was no need to send in the National Guard.
"Violent crime in Washington, D.C. is at a 30-year low," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Aug. 11. "Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order. Get lost."
"As you listen to an unhinged Trump try to justify deploying the National Guard in DC, here's reality: 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 cities caught up in a spiking national crime trend 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 high for the city. Homicides jumped to 226 in 2021, edged down to 203 in 2022 and soared in 2023 to 274 — a 20-year high.
D.C. saw homicides drop by roughly 31% from 2023 to 2024, according to year-end Metropolitan Police Department data reporting 187 in 2024. The data shows violent crime across the board fell by roughly 35% from 2023, when the department reported 5,345 incidents, to 2024, when it reported 3,469.
While the current crime data published by the police department shows violent crimes are falling, a study published in July by the Council on Criminal Justice found the chances of a person dying during such a crime has skyrocketed.
The study examined violent crime data from 17 large U.S. cities between 2018 and 2024, specifically investigating the lethality of violent crimes in those cities. It found Washington, D.C., had the highest lethality level out of the group, which included Baltimore and Chicago, at a 38% increase in lethality in 2024 compared with 2018.
Lethality in D.C. jumped by a whopping 341% when compared to 2012 data, the study found, reporting that there were 13 homicides per 1,000 serious violent crimes in 2012 to 57 homicides per 1,000 serious violent crimes in 2024.
Trump has seethed against claims data was changed, including Aug. 14, when he said an investigation had been launched into the matter.
"They are under investigation right now," Trump said Aug. 14 during 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."