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President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., has been criticized by naysayers, but the numbers don’t lie: in just seven days, crime has dropped substantially in the troubled district, according to the D.C. Police Union.
Last week, Trump announced that he was invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, enabling him to assume control of the nation’s capital city, amid what he described as a hotbed of “crime, bloodshed, bedlam, squalor, and worse.”
According to the D.C. Police Union, in the seven days since federal forces assumed control of D.C., crime has dropped across all categories. Robbery is down 46 percent, carjacking is down a whopping 83 percent, and car theft is down 21 percent, per their data.
The union also reported a 22 percent drop in violent crime, and an overall eight percent drop in “all crimes” in the city.
Last week, Trump’s federal takeover included an activation of the U.S. National Guard. As reported by RSBN, around 800 guardsmen were expected to be deployed to the city to assist local law enforcement in cleaning up the streets.
Part of these enforcement operations includes cleaning up homeless encampments from around the city, which have purportedly gotten out of hand over the past several years.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
He continued, “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong. It’s all going to happen very fast, just like the Border.”
Homeless individuals, according to the White House, are being given the option to be taken to a shelter, where they may access mental health services. “If they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt last week.
“These are pre-existing laws that are already on the books,” she added. “They have not been enforced, which is part of the reason for this federalizing of the National Guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement.”