Bowser says federal surge in DC is helping combat crime, but causing anxiety for some residents

President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge is helping combat crime in D.C., but causing fear and anxiety in some communities, Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

Members of the West Virginia National Guard patrol on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)(AP/Mariam Zuhaib)

President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge is helping combat crime in D.C., but causing fear and anxiety in some communities, Mayor Muriel Bowser said during a news conference Wednesday.

In the weeks since the federal assistance started, the city has reported fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides and an “extreme reduction in carjackings,” Bowser said.

The mayor’s comments come as the surge of officers and National Guard troops approaches the end of its third week. She met with Trump on Wednesday for what she characterized as a “courtesy meeting” and also had conversations with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” Bowser said.

During the hourlong briefing with reporters, Bowser said D.C. police need about 500 more officers to reach the 4,000 figure that city leaders think is necessary for staffing. Between Aug. 7 and Aug. 26, there were four carjackings, compared to 31 during the same period last year, an 87% reduction, according to city data. There was a 47% drop in burglaries and 38% drop in homicides.

City Administrator Kevin Donahue, citing “fairly precipitous declines” in robbery, carjacking and overall violent crime, said the way to consider the data is by “recognizing we already had good momentum coming into the federal surge, and it made it better.”

City leaders said crime has been at a 30-year low, a claim Trump has described as inaccurate. Bowser previously told WTOP the Department of Justice reviews D.C. crime data.

While Bowser said the law enforcement surge is helping, she criticized National Guard troops on city streets and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in masks as things that are “not working.” Many people are still calling police for emergencies, though Bowser said the city doesn’t have data on who isn’t calling.

Eighty-one percent of Americans see crime as a “major problem,” according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Fifty-five percent of adults think it’s either “completely” or “somewhat” unacceptable for the federal government to take control of local police departments.

Police Chief Pamela Smith said D.C. police officers are still doing community outreach, but “clearly there is some hesitation, obviously, with some of our community members, which is very important to me, that my team, myself, that we are educating our communities on the relationships that we have with our federal partners.”

Trump’s invocation of the Home Rule Act is scheduled to end after 30 days, and he would need congressional approval to extend it. However, it’s unclear whether the additional federal law enforcement officers and National Guard troops will remain.

“We will be prepared to take advantage of additional federal officers, to focus on the beautification, to support the federal task force, when that time period expires,” Bowser said. “We will be prepared as a city.”

Last week, Bowser said she launched an emergency operation center to help respond to emergent situations and “support federal surge or any federal task force activities beyond the emergency.” She’s planning to issue a mayor’s order to describe how the operations center will continue to engage with the federal Clean, Safe and Beautiful task force and make sure “task force resources continue to be strategically deployed in the District.”

Several D.C. Council members were highly critical of Bowser’s comments. Ward 5 Council member Zachary Parker said city leaders “should be unequivocal that the federal surge of officers in D.C. and deployment of national guardsmen on our streets are dangerous, unnecessary, and an affront to Home Rule. We ought to be real clear about that. Real clear.”

Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau said residents are “angry that our limited autonomy is being eroded. There’s nothing welcome about this.”

On Thursday, during an unrelated news conference, Bowser pushed back on criticism of her Wednesday remarks.

Since the federal law enforcement surge started, Bowser said, “it has always been my focus on we didn’t ask for any federal officers. We’re driving crime down. But while they’re here, how can we most strategically use them to accelerate the work that MPD has done?”

The next step, Bowser said, is figuring out how to “exit from this emergency that the president declared.” Part of that plan includes an emergency operations center “that has four work streams that prepares the District to either request more or different federal law enforcement or receive the services of federal law enforcement in a way that enhances what MPD is already doing under the control of the chief,” Bowser said.

Bowser again Thursday criticized the impact of ICE agents in masks across the city and National Guard troops monitoring city streets.

“All of those things are part of our post-emergency planning, and the framework that we will put in place so there can be no confusion about whether an emergency is needed,” Bowser said.

Meanwhile, Bowser said since the start of the law enforcement surge, 81 residents have entered the city’s shelter system. The city doesn’t know where they are coming from, Bowser said. They’re planning a census count Thursday.

“There’s no names collected,” Donahue, the city administrator said. “It is really just individuals identifying those who are unsheltered or homeless on a particular given night.”

As a result of extra law enforcement, Bowser said there’s “tremendous anxiety in the District. When I look and I see residents putting things on social media or neighborhood chats, I know that there is a lot of anxiety.”

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Bowser says federal surge in DC is helping combat crime, but causing anxiety for some residents

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