President Donald Trump signed an government order on March 27 to create a process pressure to assist crack down on crime in Washington, D.C., along with guaranteeing that “quality-of-life legal guidelines” within the nation’s capital are enforced.
The D.C. Protected and Lovely Process Drive will include representatives from businesses together with the Division of the Inside, the Division of Homeland Safety, the FBI, and the Division of Transportation. It is going to be capable of request help from native legislation enforcement in duties resembling monitoring town’s sanctuary-city coverage.
The manager order will guarantee a federal position in sustaining order and security within the District of Columbia.
“America’s capital should be a spot during which residents, commuters, and vacationers really feel secure in any respect hours, together with on public transit. Its highways, boulevards, and parks needs to be clear, well-kept, and nice,” the chief order said.
“Its monuments, museums, and buildings ought to replicate and encourage awe and appreciation for our nation’s energy, greatness, and heritage,” it continued. “Our residents deserve nothing much less.”
In August, Trump pledged to fight crime and homelessness in Washington if elected.
“We are going to take over the horribly run capital of our nation in Washington, D.C., and clear it up, renovate it, rebuild our capital metropolis, so there’s not a nightmare of homicide and crime,” he mentioned at a marketing campaign rally in Georgia.
“We’re going to cease the homicide and crime. You go down out of your state, you find yourself getting mugged and murdered in our capital. It’ll be run powerful and robust by our nice cops,” Trump added. “We are going to grow to be essentially the most lovely capital, wherever on the earth.”
Washington’s crime and homelessness charges have been a supply of scrutiny for many years. The district’s 20-year murder price peaked in 2023 earlier than falling by 32 p.c a 12 months later, whereas homicides in 2025 seem much like final 12 months, in accordance with the Washington Metropolitan Police.
Cumulative violent crime, which incorporates robberies and sexual assaults, is down 27 p.c since final 12 months, with all crime dropping 9 p.c.
In the meantime, Washington’s homelessness price elevated by 14 p.c between 2023 and 2024, regardless of being 12 p.c decrease than the district’s homeless peak in 2020.
In 2023, Washington had 73 out of each 10,000 residents dwelling in homelessness, in accordance with a report from the U.S. Division of Housing and City Improvement. The district had a better price of homelessness than the states of New York and California, which had 52 and 46 out of 10,000 residents dwelling in homelessness in 2023, respectively.
Washington ranked fifteenth on a 2025 checklist by U.S. Information and World Report of American cities with the very best variety of homeless folks.
Earlier this month, Trump referred to as for town to filter out homeless encampments.
“We have now notified the Mayor of Washington, D.C., that she should clear up all the ugly homeless encampments within the Metropolis, particularly together with those exterior of the State Division, and close to the White Home,” he posted on Fact Social.
In 2023, the GOP, which managed the Home, led the cost to dam a measure by the D.C. council from taking impact that will have lowered necessary minimums for some crimes, together with carjackings. Congress handed the disapproval decision, and President Joe Biden signed it.
In February, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) launched a invoice to finish D.C.’s Dwelling Rule, which provides town some autonomy in governing its native affairs regardless that the District of Columbia isn’t a state. Lee launched the identical invoice final 12 months.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized the invoice.
“Dwelling Rule is a restricted self-government, however what we needs to be targeted on is our pathway to changing into the 51st state,” she mentioned on Feb. 10.
On Dec. 30, Bowser met with Trump on the president’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. She mentioned it was a “nice assembly.”
“We mentioned areas for collaboration between native and federal authorities, particularly round our federal workforce, underutilized federal buildings, parks and inexperienced areas, and infrastructure,” she mentioned in an announcement.
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