D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith say President Donald Trump’s takeover will help local law enforcement with operations after it faced staffing shortages.
Smith says the extra presence will allow the department to strengthen its relationship with federal law enforcement for future collaborations following Trump’s declaration of a “crime emergency” in the district.
“These relationships with [federal] law enforcement are not new,” Smith told FOX 5. “It will help me do the things that I need to do, and to the mayor’s point, we are down 800 police officers.”
MPD currently has 4,000 staff members and 3,200 sworn officers, according to an August 2025 staffing report. D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said in January that MPD is “operating at dangerously low staffing levels” and is staffed at a 50-year low.
“To compensate for staffing shortages, officers are consistently working excessive overtime,” Pemberton said. “Last year, members worked nearly 2 million hours of overtime — four times the average. This not only leads to physical and mental exhaustion but also reduces the effectiveness of our force.”
Bowser says that “feelings of crime” don’t always reflect declining crime rates and hopes that more police on the streets will help people feel safer.
“We want to be able to grow our numbers at MPD,” Bowser said in the interview. “We know that being able to have a local, known police department in neighborhoods generates trust and helps communities help the police make them safer.”
Bowser and Attorney General Pam Bondi met shortly after the announcement on Monday, and Bowser says she has found Bondi to be “pretty straightforward.”
The D.C. mayor stated that the U.S. attorney’s office and the D.C. forensics lab are working together again, mentioning that they’ve already noticed improvements in their relationships with federal partners.
For the next 30 days, Bondi will control MPD and serve as the main point of contact. Trump also designated Terry Cole, who was confirmed less than three weeks ago to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, as MPD’s interim federal commissioner.
Smith says federal agents will be easily identifiable and wear their agency logos.
TRUMP BRUSHES OFF CALLS FOR DC STATEHOOD AS ‘RIDICULOUS’
Section 740 of the Home Rule Act grants the president the authority to take control of the city’s police for 48 hours, which can be extended for 30 days if Congress is notified.
It has not yet been revealed how crime rates and MPD’s progress will be measured during the next 30 days.