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The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into whether the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department manipulated crime statistics to create a misleading portrayal of public safety.

Getting into it: The Department of Justice’s investigation is centered on allegations that officials within the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) may have intentionally altered or misclassified crime data to downplay the severity of violence in the city. The probe, led by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, gained traction after a high-ranking MPD commander, Michael Pulliam, was suspended in May. Pulliam was accused of directing officers to downgrade violent crimes (such as carjackings) to lesser crimes like thefts, thereby artificially lowering the district’s crime figures. While Pulliam has denied any wrongdoing, his suspension prompted internal reviews and broader scrutiny of whether such practices were isolated or part of a systemic effort to manipulate public safety metrics.

President Donald Trump has seized on the controversy, accusing DC leaders of fabricating “Fake Crime numbers” to project an illusion of safety. In multiple statements, including posts on Truth Social and remarks from the Oval Office, Trump has claimed that the city’s reported crime drop is not only inaccurate but dangerous, as it allegedly masks the real conditions on the ground. His administration has used this narrative to justify the federalization of the MPD and the deployment of National Guard troops throughout the capital.

City officials, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, have strongly pushed back on the allegations, citing publicly available police data that show a sharp decline in crime across multiple categories. According to the Metropolitan Police Department’s statistics, violent crime dropped by 35% and property crime by 11% from 2023 to 2024.

Despite this, the DC police union has voiced skepticism about the city’s crime statistics. Union President Gregg Pemberton has publicly stated that officers frequently experience intense criminal activity that doesn’t align with official statistics. He claims that it’s common practice for ranking supervisors to instruct responding officers to downgrade offenses at crime scenes, a tactic used to suppress the appearance of crime. While he acknowledges that crime may have decreased to some extent, Pemberton and other union members argue that the reported drops (especially the 30–35% declines) are likely the result of deliberate statistical manipulation.