Trump federalizes DC police force, says homeless encampments will be removed

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Donald Trump said Aug. 11 he will place the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department “under direct federal control,” activate the National Guard, and “get rid of the slums” in what he called an effort to combat crime in Washington.

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said at a press conference at the White House. “This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”

Crime in the nation’s capital has declined from a pandemic-era increase, with an analysis of police data by The Washington Post showing homicides are down 32 percent year-to-date.

Trump said he would invoke his authority under Section 740 of the District of Columbia’s Home Rule Act, the law that established the district’s local government. That section gives the president the power to order Washington’s mayor to temporarily give control of the city’s police department if the president determines “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.”

However, that provision only grants the president the ability to do so for 30 days, and extensions must be authorized by Congress.

In a social media post prior to the press conference, Trump also said, “The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”

Trump said something similar during his press conference.

“We’re going to be removing homeless encampments from all over our parks, our beautiful, beautiful parks, which now a lot of people can’t walk on,” he told reporters.

“They’ve been very, very dirty — got a lot of problems — but we’ve already started that,” he said. “We’re moving the encampments away, trying to take care of people.”

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Washington directed OSV News to data about the archdiocesan Catholic Charities’ work with those experiencing hunger and homelessness. The organization said in its 2023-2024 annual report it provided 1,035 beds to shelter guests each night.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a statement that Trump’s decision constituted a “historic assault on D.C. home rule.” She called it “a counterproductive, escalatory seizure of D.C.’s resources to use for purposes not supported by D.C. residents,” and argued it was further evidence for why she believed the District of Columbia should be granted statehood.

“Crime in D.C. reached a 30-year low in 2024 and is down 26 percent this year compared to the same time period last year. The administration is justifying the decision by misleadingly citing years-old statistics,” she said, adding, “If the federal government wanted to be helpful, it could confirm judges to the D.C. Courts, which face a perpetual vacancy crisis due to inaction in the Senate.”

Norton pointed out that the district needed more local judges.

“Currently, 20 percent of the D.C. Superior Court is vacant, significantly impeding D.C.’s ability to try criminal cases in court, harming public safety and access to justice,” she said.

Norton also noted Trump’s reluctance to send in the D.C. National Guard when the U.S. Capitol was stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, by a mob of his supporters attempting to subvert congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s election. She argued the district should have a chief executive empowered to have control of the guard similar to state governors within their respective states.

Previously, Trump on July 24 signed an executive order titled, “Ending Crime And Disorder On America’s Streets,” directing the attorney general to attempt to reverse federal and state judicial precedents to make it easier for local governments to remove people experiencing homelessness from encampments into treatment centers.

“Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,” the order said. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens.”

The National Homelessness Law Center issued a statement July 24 condemning the order, arguing it “deprives people of their basic rights and makes it harder to solve homelessness.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, an annual report of the number of individuals in settings including shelters, temporary housing, and those who are unsheltered, found more than 771,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024, marking an 18 percent increase over the previous year, the highest number found by the annual report since it began in 2007.

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