Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia

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Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia
Part of Deportation in the second Trump administration during the Second presidency of Donald Trump
DC National Guard Leaders Deputized for DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force (9260118).jpg
US Army National Guard soldiers parked outside of Union Station with armored vehicle
DateAugust 11, 2025 – present (2025-08-11 – present)
Location Washington, D.C., United States
TypeState of emergency
CauseHigh crime (as claimed by the Trump administration)
Participants MPD and federal law enforcement
Arrests~550 [1]
Three National Guard soldiers perched at a top balcony at Union Station DC National Guard Leaders Deputized for DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force (9260128).jpg
Three National Guard soldiers perched at a top balcony at Union Station

"Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia" is an executive order issued by U.S. president Donald Trump in August 2025. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

On August 11, 2025, Trump switched control of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia from the city government of Washington, D.C., to the federal government, invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act for the first time in history. Trump also deployed federal law enforcement agencies and the District of Columbia National Guard in response to what he claimed was "rampant crime" in the city.

Background

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD) is normally under control of the city government. Section 1–207.40 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, entitled "Emergency Control of Police" requires the mayor of D.C. to provide to the president "such services of the Metropolitan Police force as the President may deem necessary and appropriate" whenever the president determines that "special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes". The President is required to notify the leaders of the Committee on the District of Columbia of the Senate and the House of Representatives in writing within 48 hours. The law requires Congress to approve the action within 30 days if it is in session, or after coming into session; otherwise, the services end. [6]

On August 4, 2025, Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old former DOGE employee also known as "Big Balls", was assaulted by two 15 year old boys, according to MPD, which arrived and apprehended the two suspects. [7] However, city and federal statistics show the number of violent crimes in the District are at their lowest in the last 30 years. [8]

Timeline

Armed National Guardsmen stand outside L'Enfant Plaza station and Constitution Center L'Enfant Plaza station with guardsmen, August 2025.jpg
Armed National Guardsmen stand outside L'Enfant Plaza station and Constitution Center

Protests

Some local residents protested the increased presence of federal law enforcement and the National Guard. A checkpoint on 14th St, a popular nightlife area, was met with a crowd of about 100 protestors, some who jeered at the officers and others who warned approaching drivers about the checkpoint, which eventually was disbanded later that night. [26]

On August 16, hundreds of protesters rallied at Dupont Circle and then marched to the White House. [27] [28]

D.C.'s grand jury declined to indict at least four people who were arrested. Brendan Ballou, a former prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District said "Not only have I never heard of this happening, I've never heard of a prosecutor who's heard of this happening." [29]

Among those who were charged but not indicted was Sean Dunn. [29] Dunn was charged with felony assault after allegedly throwing a submarine sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol agent. He had worked as a paralegal for the Department of Justice and was fired after his arrest. [30] He became known as "sandwich guy", and some protesters lauded him in their signs, such as one that said "One Small Sub for Man…One Giant Gesture for Democracy". Banksy-style posters were also put up around D.C. with a man wielding a hoagie. [31] Other images showed Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Stephen Miller, a Trump advisor, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth being hit in the head with hoagies. The White House had drawn attention to Dunn's actions and arrest with what The Daily Beast described as "an over-the-top video showing heavily armed agents carrying out his arrest, despite his attorney saying he had previously offered to surrender willingly". [32]

Analysis

According to preliminary MPD data, there was a moderate decrease in reported crime in the first week of the policy compared to the week before, but the decrease was spread unevenly across different types, with robberies and automobile break-ins down 40% but burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon up 6% and 14% respectively. The administration stated that 300 people lacking legal immigration status had been arrested by federal officials in the district that week—ten times higher than usual weekly averages. [33]

Federal judge Zia Faruqui criticized the actions of federal law enforcement in D.C., dismissing weapons possession charges against a man who was stopped by a combined force of MPD and federal agents outside Trader Joe's. Faruqui called the officers' apprehension of the man "without a doubt the most illegal search I've ever seen in my life" and said that "A high school student would know this was an illegal search." [34]

Other proposed deployments

Trump has proposed similar deployments of the National Guard to other cities, first naming Chicago and later Baltimore, New York City, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco to combat "runaway crime", despite broadly lower rates of crime recorded in 2025 compared to 2020 and 2024 for those cities. [35] [36] Governors and mayors of those cities and the states they are in have reacted negatively to the proposals, criticizing them as an abuse of power and political retaliation against Democratic local governments, particularly in majority-minority and sanctuary cities. [37] Although Trump, as president, has direct control over the D.C. National Guard and can federalize state National Guard forces through the Insurrection Act of 1807, his ability to deploy federal law enforcement and troops is more limited outside of D.C. [38]

Reactions

The moves received both protest and praise. Street protests and complaints from D.C. government about lack of effective prosecutions due to vacancies in the federal United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (which prosecutes all adult crimes) and the two vacancies on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (which must be nominated by the U.S. President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate) occurred on the day of Trump's announcement. [12] The head of the D.C. Police Union praised President Trump's temporary takeover of the Metropolitan Police and deployment of National Guard troops as a "critical stopgap" amid "out of control" crime, although they want the action to be only temporary. [39]

Brian Schwalb, Attorney General for the District of Columbia interprets Section 740 to mean the mayor and police chief remain in the chain of command, and disputes that this allows a federal takeover. Schwalb stated that contrary to Trump's assertion that D.C. police can now do "whatever the hell they want", the US Constitution and District law still apply to police conduct. [40] On August 15, 2025, Schwalb sued President Trump, contending that his administration's executive actions asserting control over the D.C. police department and attempting to install an emergency police commissioner were unconstitutional and violate the Home Rule Act; the lawsuit was later settled after the administrations backed down. [41] On September 4, Schwalb launched another lawsuit to end the National Guard deployment, after a federal judge ruled that the earlier deployment of the Guard in Los Angeles was illegal, on the basis that federal law generally prohibits the military from performing local policing. [42]

A poll of D.C. residents between August 14-17 conducted by The Washington Post and the Schar School found that 80% of respondents opposed Trump's federalization, concerns about crime and safety had decreased compared to previous years, and most respondents opposed the forced shutdown of homeless encampments as well as MPD assistance to federal agencies deporting undocumented immigrants. Additionally, 72% of those surveyed supported D.C. statehood, the highest figure in a Post poll about the issue. [43] [44] Despite this, some officials in the Trump administration, such as Vice President JD Vance, have claimed that the takeover is popular with residents without any proof. [33] In a national poll conducted on August 22-24 by Reuters and Ipsos, 46% of respondents opposed the deployment of the National Guard to D.C., 38% approved, and 16% were uncertain. There was a significant partisan split in responses, with 80% of Democrats, 52% of Independents, and 12% of Republicans opposing the deployment, and 76% of Republicans, 28% of Independents, and 8% of Democrats approving. When asked about the takeover of the MPD, people responded similarly. [45]

In response to the announcements from the governors of Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Mississippi and Louisiana that they would be sending hundreds of National Guard to D.C. from their states to support Trump's effort, journalist Philip Bump analyzed FBI crime data and determined that 64 cities in those five states had higher violent crime rates than D.C. Bump commented "Those governors are more worried about the 700,000 residents of D.C., theoretically, than the 1.7 million people in those 64 cities they actually represent." [46]

See also

References

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  3. "Trump says he's placing Washington police under federal control and activating the National Guard". AP News. August 11, 2025. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  4. Cheney, Kyle; Gerstein, Josh (August 11, 2025). "What Trump can — and can't — do in his bid to take over law enforcement in DC". Politico. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
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  6. "Code of the District of Columbia § 1–207.40. Emergency control of police". Council of the District of Columbia, D.C. Law Library. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
  7. Hutchinson, Bill; Date, Jack; Walsh, Kelsey (August 6, 2025). "19-year-old former DOGE worker assaulted in DC carjacking attempt, say police". ABC News.
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