DC takeover begins as National Guard troops arrive

WASHINGTON — The new picture of law enforcement in the US capital began taking shape on Tuesday as some of the 800 National Guard members deployed by the Trump administration began arriving.

The city's police and federal officials, projecting cooperation, took the first steps in an uneasy partnership to reduce crime in what President Donald Trump called — without substantiation — a lawless city.

The influx came the morning after the president announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the District's police department, something the law allows him to do temporarily. He cited a crime emergency — but referred to the same crime that city officials stress is already falling noticeably.

By evening, the administration was saying that National Guard members were expected to be on the streets starting Tuesday night, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Army said there were no specifics on the locations they will be patrolling, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason.

Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to work alongside the federal officials Trump has tasked with overseeing the city's law enforcement, while insisting the police chief remained in charge of the department and its officers.

"How we got here or what we think about the circumstances — right now we have more police, and we want to make sure we use them," she told reporters.

The tone was a shift from the day before, when Bowser said Trump's plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and call in the National Guard was not a productive step and argued his perceived state of emergency simply doesn't match the declining crime numbers.

Still, the law gives the federal government more sway over the capital city than in US states, and Bowser said her administration's ability to push back is limited.

The law allows Trump to take over the DC police for up to 30 days, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested it could last longer as authorities later "reevaluate and reassess". Extending federal control past that time would require Congressional approval, something likely challenging to achieve in the face of Democratic resistance.

Overnight arrests

About 850 officers and agents fanned out across Washington on Monday and arrested 23 people overnight, Leavitt said. The charges, she said, included homicide, drunk driving, gun and drug crimes and subway fare evasion. She didn't immediately provide further information on the arrests.

The US Park Police has also removed 70 homeless encampments over the last five months, she said. People who were living in them can leave, go to a homeless shelter or go into drug addiction treatment, Leavitt said. Those who refuse could face fines or jail time.

While Trump invokes his plan by saying that "we're going to take our capital back", Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department maintain that violent crime overall in Washington has decreased to a 30-year low after a sharp rise in 2023.

In Washington, the DC National Guard reports directly to the president. In the states, by contrast, the National Guard serves as a militia that answers to the governor, except when called into federal service. Troops are rarely deployed to police US civilians.

Trump's decision to take control of California's National Guard in June in response to immigration protests was the first time since the 1992 Rodney King riots that National Guard members were deployed in response to unrest on US soil. Other deployments came in response to disasters or to bolster border security.

After California sued, a trial is underway to determine the legality of Trump's use of the troops — the first time since the Civil Rights era that a state's National Guard was federalized without the consent of a state's governor.

Agencies Via Xinhua