D.C. crime statistics – and News4’s own reporting – are in the spotlight after President Donald Trump federalized the city’s police department on Monday.
The president questioned MPD crime statistics at the White House on Monday. Overnight, the head of the DC Police Union told why he also distrusts the statistics.
Last month, News4’s Paul Wagner broke the news that the commander of MPD’s 3rd District was suspended after MPD said he was changing crime statistics to minimize serious crimes. Trump brought up the allegations in his news conference, and the White House linked to News4’s reporting in a press release titled “Yes, D.C. crime is out of control,” accusing MPD of cooking the books to make crime statistics appear more favorable.
DC Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC News’ Garrett Haake that he doubts the drop in crime is as large as D.C. officials are touting.
“There’s a, potentially, a drop from where we were in 2023. I think that there’s a possibility that crime has come down. But the department is reporting that in 2024, crime went down 35% — violent crime – and another 25% through August of this year. That is preposterous to suggest that cumulatively we’ve seen 60-plus percent drops in violent crime from where we were in ’23, because we’re out on the street. We know the calls we’re responding to,” he said.
In 2023, D.C. saw a crime spike we had not seen in about 20 years. Homicide and violent crime numbers spiked as we exited the COVID-19 pandemic.
D.C.’s crime drop is not happening in a vacuum. Data from the Council on Criminal Justice looking at more than three dozen cities across the country shows crime is down in all of them since 2023. Homicide is down more across the country on average than in D.C.
Chief of Police Pamela Smith was asked on Monday about 3rd District Cmdr. Michael Pulliam’s case and declined to comment, calling it an internal matter. He is on leave and denies any wrongdoing.
In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, News4’s Mark Segraves asked Mayor Muriel Bowser about the investigation.
“I think that what Paul’s reporting revealed is that the chief of police had concerns about one commander, investigated all seven districts and verified that the concern was with one person. So, we are completing that investigation and we don’t believe it implicates many cases,” she said.
MPD data shows 552 fewer victims of violent crime this year so far, compared to the same period last year. The decreases are across all seven police districts. The mayor says department leadership found data reporting anomalies in just one police district.
D.C. violent crime, homicides and assaults with a dangerous weapon are down and juvenile arrests are slightly up. As President Donald Trump calls for a D.C. crime crackdown and U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro calls for changes to three laws, News4’s Ted Oberg lays out what we know.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
