Latest news with #policetakeover
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bondi names DC 'emergency police commissioner'
Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief Thursday to serve as Washington's 'emergency police commissioner,' a move to wrest power from the District's current police chief amid the Trump administration's law enforcement takeover. DEA Administrator Terry Cole will now assume 'all of the powers and duties' of D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith, Bondi said in a directive Thursday. The appointment quickly drew backlash from local officials, including D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D), who told Smith in a letter that he believed Cole's appointment was unlawful and launched a suit over the matter early Friday. The attorney general's directive asserted that Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) leaders had to receive approval from Cole before issuing any directives to its officers. It also rescinded a number of other MDP policies while directing them to help federal authorities to aid in immigration enforcement. In his letter to Smith, however, Schwalb argued that the Home Rule Act — the law under which President Trump has temporarily assumed control of the district's police — did not allow for the federal government to directly alter the chain of command. 'It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it,' he wrote. When the White House first announced its federalization of law enforcement in the nation's capital, Cole was named as the department's interim federal administrator. A career DEA agent who was stationed in Bogotá, Colombia; Kabul, Afghanistan; and Mexico City, he was confirmed to his position in the administration in July. The MPD issued a statement following the decision but did not offer an opinion on Cole's appointment. 'We understand there may be questions about recent decisions regarding the Metropolitan Police Department,' a department spokesperson told NewsNation, The Hill's sister network. 'What's most important for our community to know is that MPD remains committed to delivering high-quality police service and ensuring the safety of everyone in our city,' the spokesperson added. Previously, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and Smith said MPD leaders would continue to make decisions. Bowser, who was out of town Thursday, called Trump's moves 'unsettling and unprecedented.' The president has signaled he plans to request an extension on the 30-day takeover from Congress. He also deployed National Guard soldiers to Washington earlier this week to patrol the streets amid the administration's efforts to fight crime, which has also sparked pushback and protests. Updated: 10:07 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Trump is using ‘pure lies' about high crime in US cities to justify federal takeovers
When Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan police department in Washington DC on Monday, he left room for the possibility of making a similar move in other cities across the US, alluding to their high crime rates. 'You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad,' Trump said. 'We're not going to let it happen, we're not going to lose our cities.' But both experts and elected officials have been quick to counter Trump's claims, pointing out how major cities are in fact experiencing dramatic decreases in violent crime rates since they peaked during the pandemic. 'Every category of crime and every population group that the FBI covers is reporting a drop pretty much nationwide,' said Jeff Asher, an analyst who studies criminal justice data, adding that there was no disparity in the trend between red and blue cities or states. The downward trend has been consistent nationally since around 2022, as the country began to recover from the pandemic, experts said. 'It's clear that a lot of what we saw during the Covid-19 era has been reversed,' said Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice who researches crime trends. While it's impossible to isolate the exact causes of the spike in crime during the pandemic, several experts point to the collapse of social services as one cause. Since then, state and federal agencies poured money into communities for projects like gun violence prevention programs as well as more streetlights on local roads. These programs are the same ones being slashed as the Trump administration has prioritized shrinking federal spending. The Department of Justice canceled hundreds of grants earlier this year that funded violence prevention and victims' services programs, affecting organizations in 37 states. Elected officials were quick to slam Trump for floating a possible federal takeover of police in their cities, citing local data that matched the same trend in the FBI data showing public safety improvements as well as pointing out the recent funding cuts. In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson said shootings were down by 40% in the last year alone. 'If President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence. Sending in the national guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts,' he said. And in Maryland, local and state officials released a joint statement similarly criticizing the president for painting a false narrative about where they lived and worked. 'As leaders in Baltimore and the state of Maryland, we stand in strong opposition to the president's latest power grab, which is based on pure lies about our communities,' the statement said. Officials pointed to a 40% drop in violent crime since 2021 and said that progress was being made on public safety issues, despite the challenge of facing the Trump administration's funding cuts. Instead of calling in the national guard, Trump should be looking to partner with local officials, they said. 'We know from experience how to improve public safety: empower our community partners and violence interrupters, invest in our young people and prosecute repeat violent offenders in collaboration with law enforcement,' the statement said. In New York, officials also pushed back fast on Trump's rhetoric. 'New York is moving in the right direction in public safety,' the mayor, Eric Adams, said on Tuesday. While he added that he would be happy to accept more federal support, he added: 'We don't need anyone to come in and take over our law enforcement apparatus, we have the finest police department in the globe.' Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Even Trump's FBI director, Kash Patel, said on Joe Rogan's podcast in June that murder rates were on track to reach a historic low this year. 'If we, the FBI and our government partners, achieve the mission, we'll give the American people the lowest murder rate in decades,' he said. While crime rates are trending in the right direction, there's still work to do to improve public safety concerns, said Rachel Eisenberg, the managing director for rights and justice at the Center for American Progress. But, she said, communities are still best positioned to address these challenges rather than federal troops, echoing the concerns of local officials. 'What Trump is doing now is not about public safety,' she said. 'It's political theater.' Trump doubled down on his claims on Wednesday, suggesting that the crime statistics are a fraud, without specifying which statistics. 'Crime is the worst it's ever been,' he said. As national guard troops arrived in Washington DC this week, Thaddeus Johnson, a senior researcher at the Council on Criminal Justice, said that in the short term, it is likely arrests will go up. 'That can really capture the psyche of people and people can be sensationalized as it really plays on the fears of people,' Johnson said. Ultimately, he said, it's critical to address socioeconomic factors such as access to housing, unemployment rates and income inequity in order to improve public safety. 'Putting the feds in is not going to be the long-term answer,' Johnson said. Meanwhile, Trump has already declared his policy move a victory. 'People are feeling safe already,' he said on Wednesday. 'They're not afraid any more.'
Fox News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
FBI Director Kash Patel backs Trump's DC police takeover: 'When you let good cops be cops, they deliver'
FBI Director Kash Patel endorsed President Donald Trump's plans to take over the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in Washington D.C., amid heavy criticism from Democrats and local officials who say the move is part of a power grab. Patel was seen Monday afternoon inside a command post for the first night of the temporary takeover in a show of support for law enforcement. "Proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men and women who keep our nation's capital safe," Patel said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. "When you let good cops be cops, give them the tools they need, and back them every step of the way, they deliver - every time." In photos exclusively provided to Fox News Digital, Patel can be seen speaking Monday to FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel wearing protective vests at a command center at a U.S. Park Police station. On Monday, Trump said he would federalize the police department and place it under the authority of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in an effort to address crime. He also said he was activating approximately 800 National Guard troops to "reestablish law, order and public safety" in the capital. Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser called the move "unsettling and unprecedented." "While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can't say that given some of the rhetoric of the past, that we're totally surprised," Bowser said during a news conference. "I can say to D.C. residents that we will continue to operate our government in a way that makes you proud." The District of Columbia Home Rule Act allows Trump to place the city's police department under federal control for up to 30 days. Bowser noted that granting D.C. statehood, an issue local officials have repeatedly advocated for, could have prevented the takeover. "If people are concerned about the president being able to move the National Guard into our city, the time to do that would have been when the Congress had a bill that it could have given control of the D.C. National Guard to D.C.," she said. "So there are things that, when a city is not a state, and not fully autonomous, and doesn't have senators, that the federal government can do." Other Democrats heavily criticized the Trump administration for the move. "If President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence," the office of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said. "Sending in the national guard would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts." The Washington, D.C. City Council called the temporary takeover a "manufactured intrusion on local authority." "Violent crime in the District is at the lowest rates we've seen in 30 years. Federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department is unwarranted because there is no Federal emergency," the council said in a joint statement. "Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard's role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission." The National Capital Region Delegation, a body comprised of several House Democratic lawmakers, accused Trump of personally inciting crime in the capital, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol building. "Trump's 'temporary' takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is not intended to prevent crime, it is a soft launch of authoritarianism," the group said in a statement. "Trump has a longstanding pattern of seeking showy displays of power. As he has shown repeatedly, Trump is working to serve himself and is not concerned with keeping American families safe in cities and towns across our country." "The President's announcement this morning is an unserious and unacceptable publicity stunt," they added. "If he wants to reduce crime in the District of Columbia, he should focus on getting his Republican allies in Congress to restore the funding they arbitrarily stripped out of the city's budget, which risks cuts to law enforcement and other public safety measures." Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers union, called Trump's announcement a "gross overreach, disconnected from actual conditions on the ground." "So, we have to ask: Will the president's heavy-handed show of force make the average D.C. resident feel safer? Will it create jobs for working people and bring patrons back to downtown businesses?" she said. "Will it provide young people a pathway to jobs, skills or other activities that keep them off the streets?" "The answer to those questions is 'no,' she added. "That's why this move is yet another crass spectacle from a president who cares more about targeting, intimidating and playing king than the safety of D.C. and its residents." Trump's opponents have cited crime statistics showing crime in Washington is on the decline. Crime in Washington is down 26% this year compared to the same timeframe in 2024, according to the MPD. Assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20%, and homicides are down by 12%, according to police data. In January, the Justice Department said violent crime in 2024 in the district was down 35% from 2023, the lowest it has been in over 30 years. However, Trump disagrees. Metropolitan Police Department data shows that while the homicide rate is falling, the last five years saw the greatest number of murders since 2008. "The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher," Trump said Monday. "This is much higher. The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled. Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate, probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don't know what that means because it just goes back 25 years can't be worse."
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Mother of son caught in DC crossfire weighs in on Trump's crime crackdown
Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, the mother of a murdered congressional intern, weighs in on President Donald Trump's takeover of Washington, D.C. police on 'The Story.'
