Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Jillian SNIDER, a retired officer of the New York police department, began working in a reflection group in downtown Washington, DC, four years ago. At the time, at the height of the pandemic, the area had a very different sensation.
“You could not go down the 14th street or 16th street near the White House without seeing many troubles, many homeless camps,” recalls Snider. “Today is much cleaner. You feel much more safe. ”
Snider is part of half a dozen police and soldiers who told NBC News that they were perplexed by the unprecedented decision of President Donald Trump to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and Order the National Guard To help fight crime in Washington, DC
On the one hand, they note, crime has been at its lowest level for decades in the national capital. In early January, federal prosecutors in Washington published a press bulletin With the object line: “violent crime in DC reaches a 30 -year hollow.” And since then he has dropped by 26%, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
However, Trump portrayed DC on Monday as a landscape inferred by crime and said that the Attorney General Pam Bondi “would take command of the Metropolitan Police Department at that time.”
By asserting his case, Trump has checked recent violent incidents in Washington, including the deadly shooting of a Congress intern And the attempted embezzlement of Edward Coristine, an employee of origin of the effectiveness of the government known online under the name of “large balls”.
“Our capital was overwhelmed by violent gangs and thirsty criminals, itinerant crowds of wild young people, the drugs of maniacs and the homeless,” said Trump.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that a first federal effort this weekend was chaotic. Up to 120 FBI agents, mainly from the Washington FBI office, worked with the metropolitan police service this weekend, the official said. But the agents were confused as to their exact role in the streets and to whom they pointed out at any time.
A second federal official said confusion continued on Monday. “No one knows who is responsible or what they are supposed to do,” said the manager.
Unmarked federal vehicles in the application of the law are dragging patrol cars in Washington to provide support if necessary, said another federal official. Some agents have rejected such efforts a waste of resources, with a joker jokingly the processions “in federal funerals”.
A notable group, DC Police Union, said that he was taking control by the president, saying that the ministry had been assaulted by “chronic mismanagement” and “staff shortages”.
“The union is appropriate that crime is becoming uncontrollable, and immediate measures are necessary to restore public security,” he said in a statement. “However, we point out that federal intervention must be a temporary measure, with the ultimate goal of empowering an entirely personal and sustained MPD to effectively protect our city.”
Concern of former chiefs
The announcement of the federal takeover was greeted by Art Acevedo, a retired police chief who led the services to Houston, Austin and Miami.
“Not only is it unprecedented, but it is unjustified,” said Acevedo. “There is no reason other than the political optics sought by the administration to claim that crime is out of control and it is the Saviors.”
Trump said he had appointed the Drug Administrator, Terry Cole, as head of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Cole will be Bondi, but it is not clear if Cole will call on his own staff to manage the various divisions of the office police service of around 3,500.
During his own press conference later during the day, Mayor Muriel Bowser qualified the actions of Trump “disturbing and unprecedented”. DC prosecutor Brian Schwab also castigated this decision and said he was Explore legal optionsBut Bowser acknowledged that Trump had the power to temporarily take control of the police service.
However, she noted that “nothing in our organizational painting has changed”.
Trump must inform certain members of the Congress within 48 hours The reason to regain control of the police And the estimated calendar for federal control, according to the DC Home Rule Act. The law also indicates that Trump can take control of the DC police for 30 days, unless the congress authorizes an extension.
Flood the streets
Police experts interviewed by NBC News noted that crime is a nuanced problem that requires a multiple facets solution that includes strengthening social services.
“To simply flood the streets of DC with the police” and “take up the local DC police, it seems to be an idea half cooked in search of a problem,” said Donell Harvin, a former head of internal security and intelligence for Washington, DC, on MSNBC.
SNIDER, the retired officer of the NYPD, said that local police services were much better equipped to combat local crime than federal agencies or the National Guard.
“They know the players. They know the streets. They know where violence occurs,” said Snider, who is a conference auxiliary conferences at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and Political Director of Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties at R Street Institute, a group of reflection at DC
“Any help from federal agents or the National Guard should be supporting measures,” added Snider. “They should not come and take control of local police services.”
Acevedo, the retired police chief, said the administration would be able to have an impact on crime by reserving more money for the local application, as he did for his repression of migrants.
“If the administration really wanted to make a difference in the state and local level and helps make communities safer, it is as simple as increasing the total investment of the budgetary dollar for local law enforcement to recruit, train, equip and keep the best and most brilliant to serve as peace agents,” he said.
Trump’s penchant to call for military staff to fight interior disorders is now well established. He did it five years ago during Protests by George Floyd. And just this summer, he ordered that the National Guard and the Marines in active service in Los Angeles help repress large -scale demonstrations triggered by accelerated immigration raids.
But the National Guard has no powers arrested, there is therefore a limit to their involvement in the fight against crime in DC
Retired army colonel Jack Jacobs said that the national guard troops are generally better formed than soldiers in active service to help in urban areas like crowd control.
“But they are not trained to do things that the police do, which is a patrol and B, survey,” said Jacobs, an analyst from NBC News, in an interview. “In my opinion, it is especially the theater, and nothing necessarily useful will do it.”
Questions on January 6
Trump’s acquisition of DC police forces occurs several months after having forgiven around 1,500 people found guilty of crimes, some of them violent, in the Capitol assault on January 6, 2021.
Daniel Hodges, one of the dozens of metropolitan police officers who were brutalized during the riot and whose attackers were among the people forgiven by Trump on his return, woke up that Trump had taken over the MPD after working a quarter of a night.
“It’s a big photo shoot. It won’t change anything,” said Hodges, speaking while being in service.
Hodges, who was in the National Guard for six years, said that members of the National Guard are not trained in local police. While DC had problems with the application of the law that could be better treated, said Hodges, he does not think Bondi will have a big overview of how to deploy MPD officers.
“It’s terrible, it’s disgusting,” added Hodges, “but it’s not a surprise.”
