In the first week after the White House assumed control of Washington, D.C.’s police force and deployed federal agents and National Guard troops, the city recorded a modest drop in reported crime but a sharp increase in immigration-related arrests, according to a CNN analysis of government data.
For the week beginning August 12 — the first full week under federal control — property crimes fell by about 19 percent compared to the week prior, while violent crime dropped 17 percent, based on the most recent Metropolitan Police Department statistics.
The trends varied by category. Robberies and car break-ins fell by more than 40 percent, while thefts remained flat. Burglary cases rose 6 percent, and assaults with a dangerous weapon increased 14 percent. Two homicides occurred during the period, consistent with recent weeks, though none have been reported since August 13.
Federal agencies have embedded with local police, assisting in arrests, searches, and warrant executions while patrolling the city in unmarked vehicles, CNN noted further.
At the same time, immigration enforcement surged. Since August 7, federal officials have arrested about 300 individuals in the district without legal immigration status — more than ten times the typical weekly number of ICE arrests in the city, CNN found.
During the first six months of Trump’s current term, ICE averaged about 12 arrests per week in Washington, according to data from the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
Officials told CNN that ICE agents have been accompanying MPD officers and intervening when individuals stopped or questioned are found to be in the country unlawfully.
In response to CNN’s findings, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson stated that the media was attempting to dismiss the “exceptional results” of Trump’s efforts in Washington, D.C.
“The drops in crime are not ‘moderate,’ they are life-changing for the countless of DC residents and visitors who have not been murdered, robbed, carjacked, or victims of overall violent crime in the last week,” Jackson said. “The priority of this operation remains getting violent criminals off the streets — regardless of immigration status.”
The administration said those taken into custody include individuals arrested for committing crimes or wanted on outstanding warrants, including some for serious offenses. CNN noted it could not independently confirm the details of the arrests or determine what share involved non-immigration-related charges.
The sharp increase in immigration arrests has also fueled concerns among Democratic leaders in D.C., including Mayor Muriel Bowser, who argue that the true aim of Trump’s federal takeover may be targeting illegal immigrants.
Last week, Bowser told reporters that an order from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi “almost exclusively focused on immigration enforcement and homeless encampment enforcement.”
The District of Columbia’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit challenging Attorney General Pam Bondi’s order directing police to disregard the city’s sanctuary laws, which had limited cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in immigration cases.
During a hearing last week, however, the federal judge overseeing the case suggested that Trump’s authority under the Home Rule Act likely gives him the power to require local police to assist ICE.
Viral videos circulating in Washington this week show Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tackling immigrants, including food delivery workers, and in one case breaking car windows to detain two men.
During one evening of heightened police activity, CNN observed officers responding to reports of shootings, drug and firearm possession, and a stolen vehicle. Federal agents were heard communicating over local police channels as they carried out stops, searches, and crime responses, at times warning each other about the city’s speed cameras.
Over the past week, the Metropolitan Police Department and federal agencies have also set up traffic checkpoints — a practice rarely used in the district — including one large operation with dozens of officers and agents along a major highway leaving the city, CNN said.
Officers were seen pulling over vehicles and conducting searches, though it was not immediately clear what criteria were being used to determine which vehicles were stopped, said the outlet.