President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at improving public safety in Washington, D.C.
“Our nation’s capital, the only city that belongs to all of us, must be a symbol of pride for the American people and a safe location for public servants to do the people’s work,” the executive order states. “Today, because of failed policies, it’s not.”
The executive order establishes a task force, the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which will:
• Surge law enforcement officers in public areas and strictly enforce quality-of-life laws in public areas like drug use, unpermitted demonstrations, vandalism, and public intoxication.
• Maximize immigration enforcement to apprehend and deport dangerous illegal aliens, including monitoring Washington, D.C.’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
• Help Washington, D.C.’s forensic crime laboratory get accreditation.
• Provide assistance to the D.C. Police Department in recruiting and retaining officers and boosting capabilities.
• Keep dangerous criminals off the streets by strengthening pretrial detention policies.
• Expedite concealed carry licenses for law-abiding citizens.
• Crack down on fare evasion and other crimes on the D.C. Metro system.
“Crime is near historic highs, yet D.C. police force numbers recently reached a half-century low,” the executive order states. “The vacuum in law enforcement has created an environment that facilitates crime and blight, encourages homeless and vagrancy encampments, and jeopardizes
public safety.”
The executive order will also create a program that will try to “beautify” Washington, D.C., including restoring and beautifying federal buildings, monuments, statues, memorials, parks, and roadways, removing graffiti from commonly visited areas, and ensuring the cleanliness of public spaces and parks. The National Park Service will rapidly clear all homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands as part of the program as well.
Trump has repeatedly complained about Washington, D.C.’s “filth and the decay” since returning to the capital. He later promised to “take over the horribly run capital of our nation, Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so that it is no longer a nightmare of murder and
crime, but rather it will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world.”