Trump’s takeover of DC police: Can he, why now, and is it necessary?

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said, joined by US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who will oversee the force. “This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back. We’re taking it back.”

“Under the authorities vested in me as the President of the United States, I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act… and placing the DC Metropolitan and Police Department under direct federal control,” he said. He also announced the deployment of the National Guard: “I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC, and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”

Trump added he intends to remove the capital’s homeless population, without giving details.

What is the Home Rule Act?

The 1973 law granted DC a degree of self-government, allowing residents to elect a mayor and council, while keeping certain powers with Congress and the president. The Act allows the president to take control of the police if “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.” Trump previously threatened to do this in 2020.

The president can take control for 48 hours, or up to 30 days if Congress is notified. Trump said he plans to extend the takeover beyond 48 hours.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back: “Let me be clear. Chief Pamela Smith is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, and its 3,100 members work under her direction. Nothing about our organisational chart has changed. And nothing in the executive order would indicate otherwise.”

National Guard deployment

The US Army said “between 100-200 soldiers will be supporting law enforcement at any given time,” handling administrative, logistics, and public safety tasks. The Guard will operate under Title 32 status — federally funded but locally controlled — and not bound by the Posse Comitatus Act.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Guard units will begin arriving this week, likely without openly carrying rifles, though weapons will be accessible. Hegseth said the Pentagon was “prepared to bring in other National Guard units – other specialised units.”

When asked about removing homeless people, Hegseth said: “Our job is to stand alongside law enforcement.”

Why now?

Trump’s order states that “rising violence in the capital now urgently endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists” and disrupts government functions. It calls DC “among the most violent jurisdictions in the United States.”

The move appears linked to the August 3 assault on Edward Coristine, a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer and protege of Elon Musk. Police say 10 teenagers attacked Coristine and his partner; two 15-year-olds were arrested. Days later, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “If DC doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run.” He added that the takeover “should have been done a long time ago.”

Is there a crime emergency?

Mayor Bowser questioned the need for the National Guard, suggesting more funding for prosecutors would be more effective. “It is true that those were more challenging times related to some issues. It is also true that we experienced a crime spike post-COVID, but we worked quickly to put laws in place and tactics that got violent offenders off our streets, and gave our police officers more tools,” she said.

According to Bowser, violent crime is now at a 30-year low. DC crime statistics show violent offences fell from 2023 to 2024, with 2025 continuing the trend: homicides down 12 per cent, assaults with dangerous weapons down 20 per cent.

The FBI also reported a nationwide drop in violent crime of 4.5 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023.

(With inputs from The Guardian, BBC)