The Justice Department has now reportedly opened an investigation into the accuracy of crime statistics in the District of Columbia, intensifying a clash between President Donald J. Trump and city officials over his federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
The probe, led by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, follows a series of Trump’s accusations that the city has been “fudging the numbers” to create a false sense of security for residents.
Earlier this year, the same office touted that violent crime in Washington had reached a 30-year low, a narrative sharply at odds with the president’s view.
“D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post this week, accusing local leaders of misleading the public about conditions in the capital.
The president has argued that crime in Washington is far worse than official statistics suggest, citing his concerns as justification for deploying the National Guard and asserting federal control over the police force.
While many city residents remain opposed to the takeover, the president and his allies say the reality on the streets supports his actions.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the federal probe during an interview on Fox News on Monday night. “Well, no. I can’t tell you for sure whether it goes further, but we are, of course, looking into this,” he said when asked whether the alleged data manipulation extended beyond a single district.
Mr. Blanche cast doubt on the city’s claims of falling crime, pointing to what he described as the lived experience of residents. “Because the reality is that we know that D.C. has been an incredibly unsafe place to live for a very long time,” he said. “And so in some ways, it’s not surprising that we hear about reports of this type of conduct that suggests that D.C. is safer than everybody that lives here knows to be true.”
The investigation follows reports last month that a former police commander had been suspended after allegedly altering crime data in a district covering three city neighborhoods.
That episode, first reported by NBC Washington, heightened questions about the reliability of the city’s official statistics.
The D.C. police union, which has backed Mr. Trump’s intervention, has long expressed skepticism that crime rates are as low as city leaders claim. Their position reflects a broader concern that statistical improvements have not matched the daily reality for officers on the ground.
City leaders, for their part, point to the numbers. Statistics released by the Metropolitan Police Department show a 27 percent decline in violent crime and a 4 percent decline in property crime this year compared with 2024.
Longer-term comparisons show even steeper drops: violent crime fell 35 percent between 2023 and 2024, while property crime decreased 11 percent.
Neither the Metropolitan Police Department nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office responded to requests for comment. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office also declined to address the investigation.
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