Overview

• President Trump invoked the Home Rule Act to assume temporary federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy about 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C.
• PolitiFact and PBS fact-checkers found the White House’s chart relied on outdated 2023 homicide data and rated its claim that D.C. has the world’s highest murder rate False.
• A January Department of Justice press release and a February Rochester Institute of Technology report confirmed that homicides dropped from 274 in 2023 to 187 in 2024, marking a 35% decline and the lowest violent-crime level in over 30 years.
• The Metropolitan Police Department placed Commander Michael Pulliam on administrative leave in July amid D.C. Fraternal Order of Police allegations that officials pressured officers to reclassify felony offenses to reduce reported crime.
• Ward-level analyses show that, despite citywide declines, neighborhoods such as Ward 8 face homicide rates near 72 per 100,000 and Ward 7 rates above 41 per 100,000.