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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
What the end of Trump’s crime emergency means for law enforcement in | |
DC | |
By Gabe Cohen, CNN | |
Updated: | |
1:14 PM EDT, Wed September 10, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
President Donald Trump’s 30-day in Washington, DC, expires at the end | |
of Wednesday, the mayor’s office says, but the federal law | |
enforcement surge in the nation’s capital is expected to continue. | |
Here’s what you need to know: | |
What happens Thursday? | |
Once the emergency ends, Trump will lose his broad authority under the | |
DC Home Rule Act to commandeer local police services for federal | |
purposes. In recent weeks, the administration has ordered DC’s mayor | |
to provide police support for federal operations such as immigration | |
enforcement. | |
Starting Thursday, local officials — including the mayor and police | |
chief — will regain the power to deny such requests, potentially | |
leaving federal agencies to handle certain operations on their own. | |
However, this is just one aspect of the federal crime-fighting efforts | |
in the nation’s capital, which are not expected to end abruptly. | |
What will happen with the National Guard and ICE? | |
The Trump administration can still deploy federal law enforcement and | |
National Guard troops across the city, a presence officials say will | |
continue. The military has the National Guard deployment in DC through | |
at least the end of November, though the president could end it sooner. | |
“Federal agents and officers have always been able to stop people. | |
They have arrest authority in the district, and that won’t change,” | |
Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference Monday. “MPD will | |
continue to work with our federal agencies, as we’ve always done, in | |
ways that are strategic for public safety.” | |
Bowser issued an executive order last week requiring ongoing | |
coordination between local law enforcement and various federal | |
partners, though Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the National | |
Guard were notably excluded. | |
Bowser said Wednesday she expects the city’s police department to | |
return to its “status quo.” | |
“Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does, and with the end of | |
the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future,” she added. | |
How did the emergency affect crime? | |
Bowser has touted a 39% drop in violent crime and 29% increase in | |
arrests since the federal surge began, though she’s emphasized that | |
it’s part of a broader downward trend driven by local police efforts | |
over the past two years. | |
In the of Trump’s takeover of DC policing, reported violent crime | |
incidents dropped by 10% from the previous three-week period, while | |
reported property crime incidents fell by 25%, according to public | |
data released by the Metropolitan Police Department. Overall, reported | |
crime decreased in all seven of DC’s police districts. | |
Much of the federal surge has been concentrated overnight. Metropolitan | |
Police Department crime suppression teams pair with federal agents — | |
including those from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and | |
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — fanning out | |
across DC’s high-crime neighborhoods. These joint squads have brought | |
a significant boost in manpower — more than 500 extra federal | |
officers on the streets every night, a source told CNN, filling an | |
officer shortage that city leaders have long lamented. | |
MPD largely guides where these teams are deployed, relying on their | |
local expertise to target the city’s crime hot spots. | |
“This isn’t elaborate,” a law enforcement source told CNN. “The | |
sheer number of officers added to these areas has evidently created a | |
fear among those who commit crime in the city, and they seem to be | |
standing back for now.” | |
What will Bowser do now? | |
Since Trump’s emergency declaration on August 11, Bowser — a | |
Democrat and Trump critic in the past — has largely cooperated with | |
the administration and federal law enforcement to avoid provoking the | |
president and risking a more aggressive federal intervention. That | |
could include the administration pulling federal funding, federal | |
control over local schools or law enforcement, or even a full | |
revocation of DC’s home rule — steps some Republican lawmakers have | |
openly advocated. | |
While the mayor’s is to maintain DC’s autonomy and navigate the | |
city out of the federal emergency, she is likely to continue some | |
cooperation with the Trump administration to avoid a more dramatic | |
federal takeover. However, she has criticized the presence of masked | |
ICE agents making arrests and armed National Guard troops patrolling | |
busy areas. | |
ICE operations across DC have led to violent arrests and tense | |
interactions between officers and local residents. | |
DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb last week seeking to end the National | |
Guard deployment, calling it a “military occupation” that violates | |
federal law and the US Constitution. | |
Bottom line: When Trump’s emergency order expires on Wednesday, his | |
power to control DC’s police will end. But for now, there’s no sign | |
that the federal surge is going away. Some city leaders may welcome | |
aspects of the continued support, but the uneasy partnership between | |
local officials and the Trump administration could lead to more clashes | |
in the weeks ahead. | |
This story has been updated with additional information. | |
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