By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Local leaders are responding to the 47th president’s move to declare a national crime emergency in Washington, D.C. and deploy the National Guard to the capital. On Aug. 11, the 47th president issued an executive order invoking Section 740 of the 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act to take control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from the D.C. mayor and place it under federal authority.
The president pointed to climbing homicide rates, a rise in juvenile crime and record-high carjackings as justification for his executive order. However, Mayor Muriel Bowsers maintains that violent crime has actually started to decline in the nation’s capital. She believes the president’s outlook on D.C. public safety challenges is shaped by his first-term experience during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is true that those were more challenging times related to some issues. It is also true that we experienced a crime spike post-Covid, but we worked quickly to put laws in place and tactics that got violent offenders off our streets and gave our police officers more tools, which is why we’ve seen a huge decrease in crime,” said Bowser, in a livestreamed response to the takeover. “Because of those efforts, we have been able to reverse that 2023 crime spike this year. Crime isn’t just down from 2023, it’s also down from 2019 before the pandemic. We’re at a 30-year crime low.”
The 47th president’s executive order follows the assault of former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer, Edward Coristine. The 19-year-old was attacked by a group of youth in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 3, prompting the president to threaten a federal takeover of MPD.
In his declaration, the 47th president asserted that violent crime in D.C. threatens the operations of the federal government.
“The increase in violent crime in the heart of our republic has consequences beyond the individual tragedies that have dominated media coverage. Such lawlessness also poses intolerable risks to the vital federal functions that take place in the District of Columbia,” wrote the 47th president in the executive order. “Violence and crime hamper the recruitment and retention of essential federal employees, undermine critical functions of government and thus the well-being of the entire nation, and erode confidence in the strength of the United States.
“These conditions are disgraceful anywhere, but particularly in the capital of our nation and the seat of the federal government,” he continued.
Still, current District crime data does not reflect the spike that the 47th president has suggested. According to MPD, violent crime decreased by 26 percent as of Aug. 11, 2025, compared to 2024. This is on top of a 35 percent reduction from 2023 to 2024.
In spite of this, Bowser is legally required to comply with the president’s directive due to D.C.’s limited home rule authority, which she said allows the federal government to intrude on the District’s autonomy in a number of ways.
“We are American citizens. Our families go to war, we pay taxes and we uphold the responsibilities of citizenship. While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say— given some of the rhetoric of the past— that we’re totally surprised,” said Bowser. “I can say to D.C. residents that we will continue to operate our government in a way that makes you proud.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will lead the federal takeover of MPD, while Terry Cole, the new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will act as interim federal commissioner of the police department.
Bowser and MPD Chief of Police Pamela Smith said they would be coordinating with federal officials at a press conference on Aug. 11.
Other leaders have since spoken out on the 47th president’s executive order. Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the president’s decision not only lacks seriousness, but is deeply dangerous.
“As someone who has served overseas in uniform and is commander-in-chief of the Maryland Guard, I take how, when and why we deploy members of our armed forces personally and seriously. These actions by the president lack both data and a battle plan,” said Moore in an Aug. 11 statement. “He is simply using honorable men and women as pawns to distract us from his policies, which continue to drive up unemployment and strip away health care and food assistance from those who need it most.”
In his statement, Gov. Moore suggested that the president could look to his administration as a model for how to reduce violent crime, citing a 20 percent reduction in homicides statewide since he took office in 2023.
“We await outreach from the White House if they want to have a serious conversation about public safety,” said Moore. “But, we won’t hold our breath.”
When the president announced that he would deploy the National Guard across Washington, D.C., he also targeted Baltimore. He described the city as, “so far gone,” that it’s not even mentioned anymore.
In an Aug. 11 statement on X, formerly Twitter, Scott said the remarks were the 47th president’s latest attempt to draw attention away from issues he should be prioritizing, including the economy.
“When it comes to public safety in Baltimore, he should turn off the right-wing propaganda and look at the facts,” said Scott. “Baltimore is the safest it’s been in over 50 years. Homicides are down 28 percent this year alone, reaching the lowest level of any year on record.”
He also acknowledged other cities who have worked to enhance public safety.
“It’s not just Baltimore. Violent crime is at historic lows in cities across the country under the leadership of mayors who have brought together partners from law enforcement, the legal system and communities to reduce violence,” Scott. “The president could learn a lot about leadership from them”
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten called the move a, “crass spectacle from a president who cares more about targeting, intimidating and playing king than the safety of D.C. and its residents.”
She emphasized that putting MPD under federal control will not make the average D.C. resident feel safer or provide pathways to keep District youth off the streets.
“The AFT has thousands of educators and employees who live and work in D.C. and the surrounding counties. We recently brought thousands of people here for a conference. This is our city,” said Weingarten. “Obviously, we want it to be safe–just as we did on Jan. 6, 2021, when there was an actual riot on the streets. How ironic that the president was reluctant to deploy the National Guard then when asked by others to do so.”
Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D) criticized the order as an executive overreach that undermines the D.C.’s self-governance. She noted that in March, the District faced a $1.1 billion budget deficit, caused by congressional interference, that led to a hiring freeze in MPD and restrictions on overtime for law enforcement.
“The city of Washington, D.C. belongs to the great people of Washington, D.C., not the occupant of the White House. If he actually cared about the wellbeing of the people of Washington, he wouldn’t have blocked D.C. from spending its own money in the way it saw fit,” said Alsobrooks. “This is not only drastic executive overreach but the latest marker in how far this President is willing to go to attack our democracy.”
Great Job Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer & the Team @ AFRO American Newspapers Source link for sharing this story.
