Federal agents to patrol 24/7 in Washington as Trump plans to extend control over DC police

Federal law enforcement agents from various agencies including Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Park Police, and FBI, question a couple who had been parked outside a legal parking zone while eating McDonald’s takeout, in northwest Washington near Kennedy St. NW. The couple were released after a search of the car. (AP Photo)

Washington DC’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has been in a conundrum over president’s takeover of the city’s police and deployment of National Guards as she referred to the takeover as an “authoritarian push” at one point but later reframed her stance and stated that infusion of officers was to boost public safety.

Trump, while defending his move, has said that violent crime in Washington DC is at an emergency level and only federal intervention could fix it, however, District Columbia leaders contested those claims with statistics which showed violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago.

Trump, while sharing plans to urge the Congress for an extended federal control of Washington’s city police, added that any congressional action in the matter could serve as a model for other US cities. The US president had earlier threatened to expand his move to other Democratic-run cities including Chicago, where he claims the administration has failed to address crime.

Since the past two days, a small number of scattered federal officers have been visible in the nation’s capital but a heavy deployment is expected on Wednesday at the Guard’s armory and troops were expected to start doing more missions in Washington on Thursday, AP reported citing a guard spokesman.

About 800 National Guard troops have been deployed by President Trump in Washington DC.