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President Donald Trump claimed that violent crime in Washington is getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the city’s police department.
WASHINGTON — The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced on Monday that it would be investigating allegations that DC Police crime data is not only inaccurate but is being intentionally manipulated.
According to a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela A. Smith from James Comer, the chairman of the committee on oversight and government reform, MPD reportedly placed a Third District commander on administrative leave in May after he was accussed of altering crime reports.
“Unfortunately this practice does not appear to be isolated, nor is it a recent development,” the letter reads. “MPD recently entered into a settlement agreement related to allegations that senior MPD officials were engaged in falsifying crime statistics to artificially lower reported crime rates.”
Comer writes that in addition to the earlier reporting and a “related whistleblower,” the committee is requesting documents, information, and transcribed interviews with the District Commanders of each of the seven patrol districts, and Commander Pulliam to assist its investigation of this matter.
As for the alleged whistleblower, Comer said the informant claims the data manipulation potentially impacts all seven patrol districts, despite MPD taking action in regards to the Third District commanders.
“In fact, the whistleblower’s disclosure indicates that MPD leadership routinely instructed District Commanders to downgrade charges to artificially reduce certain crime statistics,” the letter reads. “The whistleblower stated this manipulation is accomplished by supervisors—with only a cursory understanding of the facts and circumstances of the crime—ignoring the judgement of patrol officers who actually interviewed witnesses and collected evidence by recommending reduced charges. If recommended charges in a particular case are being downgraded to present the false narrative of a safer city, a byproduct of this manipulation is that prosecutors responsible for holding offenders accountable may be misled on the seriousness of a particular crime.”
In the letter, Comer requests the the following documents:
- All crime reports (including responding officer’s narrative as well as all amended reports), the audit trail on these reports and memoranda for all crimes whose classification has been changed
- All communications among or between MPD leadership and any other city officials regarding efforts to reclassify or amend crime reports
- All communications related to weekly District Commander meetings, including but not limited to calendar invites and meeting minutes
- A full, unredacted copy of the settlement agreement between MPD and/or the City of Washington, DC and Sergeant Charlotte Djossou; and, 5. All documents and communications among or between MPD and any other entity or official related to Sergeant Charlotte Djossou’s accusations of manipulation of crime statistics and/or the settlement agreement referenced above
- Michael Pulliam and all seven current Distict Commanders must be available to appear for individually scheduled transcribed interews beginning Sept. 23 and ending on Oct. 20.
Comer’s letter comes less than a week after the Department of Justice opened an investigation into whether DC officials falsified data to make crime rates appear lower than they are, according to a person familiar with the probe.
President Donald Trump claimed that violent crime in Washington is getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the city’s police department, a claim Mayor Muriel Bowser has pushed back on.
“D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety,” Trump posted on X. “This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do, and they are under serious investigation for so doing! Until 4 days ago, Washington, D.C., was the most unsafe ‘city’ in the United States, and perhaps the World. Now, in just a short period of time, it is perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour! People are flocking to D.C. again, and soon, the beautification will begin!”
DC Police said their latest numbers show violent crime is still down 27% compared to the same time last year.
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