Within the practically three weeks since President Trump deployed federal troops and legislation enforcement brokers all through Washington, D.C., a CBS Information evaluation of crime knowledge exhibits violent crime is down in Washington by virtually half when in comparison with the identical 19 days in 2024.
The evaluation, reviewing each crime incident reported to the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Division from Aug. 7 by Aug. 25, additionally exhibits violent crime is down compared to the five-year common for a similar dates.
Past violent crime, reported burglaries are also down 48% and automobile thefts have fallen 36%.
Figuring out the precise causes of adjustments in legal exercise is advanced as a result of it may be pushed by many elements – and native police knowledge was already exhibiting that reported crimes had been trending downward in Washington previous to the president’s motion.
Violent crime, for instance, within the two weeks previous to Aug. 7, was down about 20% already from the identical interval in prior years, in line with the MPD knowledge.
The place are federal troops and legislation enforcement deployed?
CBS Information additionally has been inspecting the place federal troops and legislation enforcement are deployed in relation to crime incidents.
Whereas some information reviews and pundits instructed the deployments might have been in lower-crime areas, CBS Information’ evaluation of the areas of reported crimes in 2025 signifies that the federal authorities deployed troops and different federal legislation enforcement brokers principally in areas with larger – and sometimes a lot larger – charges of crime, violent crime and gun crime than the typical neighborhood throughout town.
The evaluation examines the situation of each crime incident inside a half mile of the areas the place CBS Information verified that federal troops or legislation enforcement brokers are assigned. That was in comparison with crime incidents inside a half-mile of lots of of different factors masking the district.
In comparison with neighborhoods citywide inside a half mile of the 30 federal deployment areas, the focus of general crime incidents was practically 3 times larger than the citywide common.
Moreover, violent crimes – together with homicides, assaults with a weapon, sexual assaults and robberies, in addition to any crime dedicated with a firearm – had been greater than twice as excessive, and crimes involving weapons had been practically twice as excessive close to deployment areas.
A number of federal deployment areas alongside U Avenue, NW, had been in areas the place the variety of gun crimes inside a half mile of these deployments was larger than greater than 90% of areas citywide.
There are different areas of town with excessive concentrations of crime the place CBS Information has not been capable of confirm sightings of troops or federal legislation enforcement deployments – primarily many of the neighborhoods southeast of the Anacostia River. The White Home has reported arrests being made in these areas, however with out releasing specifics about exact areas.
Additionally, not each deployment is identical. On the Nationwide Mall, amid the monuments, museums and different federal grounds, the deployments verified by CBS Information Confirmed had been primarily Nationwide Guard. However the Guard was not simply on and across the Mall. No less than 10 Guard deployments had been scattered at subway stations and different areas throughout town – blended in with deployments of different federal legislation enforcement brokers. You’ll be able to see the totally different deployments CBS Information has verified thus far on this map.
Brianne Nadeau is a member of the District of Columbia Council who represents a neighborhood with a heavy presence of federal brokers. She mentioned they’re scaring individuals away.
“Some companies aren’t even opening,” she mentioned. “Both they do not have workers coming or they’re involved about opening for his or her clients. We’ve got daycares which might be afraid to take the youngsters out to the park as a result of they’re afraid their workers might be picked up by ICE. I imply, it’s totally quiet, and never simply because it is summer time.”
However Leroy Thorpe, who leads a neighborhood crime watch program in Washington D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood, has applauded the Nationwide Guard deployment.
“Completely it helps,” Thorpe informed CBS Information. “The subway poses a public security difficulty for law-abiding residents who’re going to — or coming from — work.”
What the White Home is saying
A White Home official says that because the begin of the operation on Aug. 7, greater than 1,094 arrests have been made, together with eight identified gang members with affiliation to both MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, and 115 firearms have been seized.
On the evening of Aug. 25, there have been a complete of 87 arrests, 39 of which had been undocumented immigrants with prior arrests on a spread of fees from easy assault to felony theft, in line with the official, and 4 unlawful firearms had been seized. So far, 49 homeless encampments have been cleared by multi-agency groups.
The official mentioned arrests had been made by multi-agency groups, together with the MPD and varied federal company officers deployed to advertise public security as a part of the president’s agenda to quash crime.
Mr. Trump in a gathering on Aug. 26, with members of his Cupboard, reiterated his view that MPD’s crime knowledge is “phony” and known as on Lawyer Common Pam Bondi “to do one thing about it”.
“What they did is that they issued numbers – it is the very best in 30 years. Not the very best. It is the worst. It is the worst. It is a lot worse. They usually gave phony numbers,” Mr. Trump mentioned. He provided no proof to help his declare concerning the numbers.
Touting the administration’s operation within the District, the president mentioned Washington, D.C., is “very secure proper now.”
“Crime in D.C., was the worst ever in historical past,” Mr. Trump mentioned. “And now, during the last 13 days, we have labored so laborious, we have taken so many. There are various left, however we have taken so many criminals – over 1,000.”
Mr. Trump has floated the thought of deploying the Nationwide Guard to Chicago, although he has not decided about whether or not to take action.
For comparability, CBS Information’ evaluation of district police arrest information for a similar days in earlier years present the same tempo of arrests this yr: the district police knowledge present 1,071 arrests for a similar interval of days in 2024. The info doc 856 arrests throughout that interval in 2023, 800 in 2022, 755 in 2021 and 734 in 2020.
The Nationwide Guard’s function in D.C.
Along with the greater than 900 members of the D.C. Nationwide Guard who’re deployed throughout the district, six Republican governors – West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee – have despatched upwards of 1,300 mixed extra members of their states’ Nationwide Guard to the nation’s capital.
The Nationwide Guard footprint so far has been principally restricted to defending federal buildings and parks, in addition to patrolling 10 Metro stations within the district, however in current days the service members began to help with “beautification” throughout the district, helping in “restoration tasks” in D.C.’s federal parks, in line with a Joint Process Power D.C. spokesperson.
A spokesperson for the Joint Process Power additionally informed CBS Information on Aug. 24, that the protection secretary had directed Nationwide Guard members deployed to D.C. to start carrying their assigned service weapon. A navy official mentioned possible fewer than 50 had been to be armed beginning that evening. This was a reversal from earlier within the month, when a Protection Division official informed CBS Information that deployed Guard members wouldn’t be armed, on the request of native legislation enforcement companions. The official additionally mentioned on the time they might not have weapons of their automobiles.
Native leaders, together with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, have questioned the rise in Nationwide Guard members.
“The numbers on the bottom within the District do not help a thousand individuals from different states coming to Washington, D.C.,” Bowser mentioned at a press convention on Aug. 18, including that she doesn’t have management over town’s Nationwide Guard — that authority lies with the president.
The district is usually policed by native and federal legislation enforcement companies.
The Metropolitan Police Division, town’s main legislation enforcement company, had 3,181 sworn members as of Aug. 15, in line with a division spokesperson. The Metro Transit Police Division, which oversees safety for the district’s transit methods, has 482 cops, the division mentioned.
The U.S. Capitol Police, chargeable for safety on the Capitol advanced and its grounds, employs practically 2,300 sworn officers and about 500 civilian workers members, the company mentioned.
The U.S. Park Cops cowl federal parks, together with the Nationwide Mall. The chairman of the union representing the U.S. Park Police informed D.C. radio station WTOP there are 294 officers masking the D.C. space.
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