The administration of US President Donald Trump has reversed its decision to place the Washington, DC police department under federal control, after negotiations with Washington officials and the United States Justice Department led to a deal.
Trump had initially ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops onto the streets of the capital, citing a surge in crime.
However, following a federal court hearing, Trump administration lawyers conceded that Pamela Smith, the police chief appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, would remain in command of the Metropolitan Police Department.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi, however, directed the district’s police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, regardless of any city law.
The precise role of Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole, who was named by Bondi as the city’s “emergency police commissioner” under Trump’s takeover bid, is still to be determined in further talks.
Bondi criticized DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, saying he “continues to oppose our efforts to improve public safety”. Nevertheless, she added, “We remain committed to working closely with Mayor Bowser.”
The deal comes amid escalating tensions in Washington, DC, over the city’s immigration and policing policies, as well as its right to govern itself.
Mayor Bowser’s office is still evaluating how to comply with the new Bondi order on immigration enforcement operations. While the police department has eased some restrictions on cooperating with federal officials facilitating Trump’s mass-deportation campaign, it has reaffirmed its commitment to following the district’s sanctuary city laws.
In a letter to DC citizens, Bowser wrote, “it has been an unsettling and unprecedented week in our city. Over the course of a week, the surge in federal law enforcement across DC has created waves of anxiety.”
She added that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now,” but emphasized that if Washingtonians stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy – even when we don’t have full access to it.”
The police takeover was part of Trump’s efforts to test the limits of his legal authorities, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and plans for mass deportation of undocumented people in the United States.
Although Washington has experienced spikes in violence and visible homelessness, its homicide rate ranks below those of several other major US cities.