On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi took significant steps to solidify the Trump administration's influence over law enforcement in Washington D.C. by transferring key decision-making authority from the city's police chief to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This move comes shortly after President Donald Trump announced federal intervention to combat rising crime rates in the nation's capital and deployed the National Guard to assist local law enforcement.
During an interview on Fox News, Bondi unveiled an order from the Justice Department appointing Terry Cole, the Administrator of the DEA, as the Emergency Police Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The order, effective immediately, authorizes Cole to exercise all powers and responsibilities typically held by the Chief of Police in the District of Columbia.
This decision significantly alters the existing leadership dynamics within the D.C. police department. Under this new directive, current MPD Chief Pamela Smith will now require approval from Cole before implementing any further directives or operations within the department.
Following a meeting with Attorney General Bondi earlier in the week, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser affirmed that Chief Smith would continue to act as the operational lead in coordinating efforts with federal authorities. Bowser emphasized the importance of collaboration between local and federal forces to effectively reduce violent crime rates in the city.
"We are ensuring that our chief of police is the leader and is working with her counterparts that have been named by the president, specifically the director of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Marshals Service," Bowser stated. "This cooperation will enable us to deploy additional officers, which we expect could number in the hundreds on any given night, in a manner that effectively drives down violent crime."
On Thursday evening, Bowser's office communicated to NBC News that it was currently assessing Bondi's directive. Earlier that day, Chief Smith issued an order allowing local police to inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents about undocumented immigrants encountered during traffic stops—a move that Trump lauded as a significant step toward curbing crime within the city.
Despite Smith's initiative, Attorney General Bondi expressed concerns about what she characterized as "sanctuary policies" that hinder law enforcement's ability to address crime effectively. "They're trying to protect criminal aliens. If we allow this to continue, criminals will flock to D.C., and we cannot permit that," Bondi remarked during her Fox News interview.
In conclusion, the recent changes in leadership and policy within the D.C. law enforcement framework reflect a broader strategy by the Trump administration to exert federal control over local policing efforts, particularly in response to concerns about crime and immigration in Washington, D.C.
