The White House announced on Thursday that it will use federal law enforcement officers to help police Washington D.C.
The move comes one day after President Donald Trump threatened to take over the city’s police force in response to an attempted hijacking that left one Trump administration staffer injured.
“Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.”
The effort will begin as a seven-day operation, with “the option to extend as needed,” according to a White House statement. Increased law enforcement will be present on the streets at midnight, led by the U.S. Park Police, with participation from all members of the “Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force” established under a March executive order.
The focus will be on “high traffic tourist areas,” the statement said.
Those law enforcement groups include the Metropolitan Police Department, United States Capitol Police and Metro Transit Police Department, among many other groups.
The D.C. mayor’s office declined to comment, but District officials have long resisted federal efforts to encroach on what they believe are local affairs.
The Homeland Security Investigations, as well as Enforcement and Removal Protections, two subsets of ICE, will also be deployed.
Federal officers will be identified, in marked units, and highly visible, the statement said. The announcement comes as the White House has criticized local government in the nation’s capital for not adequately dealing with violent crime in the city. Last year, violent crime in Washington hit a 30-year low, according to city police data.
Comments