A CBS analysis found that DC homicides are down 57 percent since Trump federalized the city’s police force
Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser (D.) admitted that President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown “has worked,” citing fewer homicides, gun crimes, and carjackings since Trump took control of the city’s police force and sent in National Guard troops.
“This is what we think in just a couple of weeks of experience has worked—having more federal law enforcement officers on the street,” Bowser said Wednesday at a news conference. “We think having more stops that got to illegal guns has helped.”
“Having more federal law enforcement officers on the street [has worked]. We think having more stops that got to illegal guns has helped,” says D.C. @MayorBowser.
“We have had fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides, and we have experienced an extreme reduction in carjackings.” pic.twitter.com/pmvvVerqjN
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 28, 2025
“We know that we have had fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides, and we have experienced an extreme reduction in carjackings,” Bowser added.
D.C. crime rates have plummeted since Trump first ordered federal law enforcement to begin patrolling the district on August 7, the Washington Post reported based on data that Bowser presented. As of Tuesday, D.C. has had 5 homicides—3 fewer than the same period last year—while robberies fell by more than half, from 119 to 45, according to the data. Carjackings dropped from 31 to 4.
A CBS News analysis confirmed the steep decline, finding that violent crime in D.C. has fallen nearly 50 percent compared with the same period last year. Since August 7, homicides are down 57 percent and burglaries 48 percent, according to CBS.
Before the federal takeover, D.C. long battled high rates of violent crime and saw spikes as recently as 2023, with homicides up 35 percent, robberies up 67 percent, and carjackings up 82 percent that year. Trump said that crime is “out of control” in the nation’s capital and vowed to “put it in control very quickly, like we did on the southern border.”
