Federal Intervention: Are We Safer?
By • September 2, 2025 One Comment 787
News Analysis
Welcome to Georgetown … sort of.
Members of the National Guard patrolled Georgetown over the weekend for the first time, having previously stayed mostly downtown and along the National Mall since their arrival.
They are part of President Trump’s emergency proclamation which he announced in an elaborate Aug. 11 press conference at the White House.
The president said: “I’m officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act … and placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police under federal control … in addition, I’m deploying the National guard to help establish law, order and public safety… they’ll be allowed to do their job properly.”
The president has repeatedly described Washington, D.C., as dirty and crime-ridden.
Even before the president’s action, city officials and others argued that police statistics show homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time last year. Violent crime is down 26 percent compared with this time a year ago. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, homicides in D.C. are down 32 percent year-to-date, following a 31 percent decrease in 2024 compared to 2023.
In recent days, D.C. has borne 2,000 National Guard members and additional officers from the FBI, DEA and ICE. We’ve seen — or viewed the videos of — MPD checkpoints, the Subway sandwich guy protesting to the police or the ICE or DEA takedown of the moped driver.
“We know that we have had fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides and we have experienced an extreme reduction in carjackings,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at an Aug. 27 news conference. “We greatly appreciate the surge of officers” that help the Metropolitan Police Department, she added.
Bowser’s conciliatory comments were immediately criticized by Council members Robert White, Charles Allen, Brianne Nadeau and Jannese Lewis George.
Nadeau wrote on X: “DC is under siege” … “armed military patrolling our streets & masked agents scooping up neighbors & taking them away. Our residents are afraid, hesitant to go out & to work, angry that our limited autonomy is being eroded. There is nothing welcome about this.”
District Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said of Bowser: “She’s trying to navigate between protecting home rule and the federal oppression.”
The next day, Bowser elaborated on her Wednesday remarks: “Our North Star is protecting home rule and the District’s autonomy in all things, especially during this last eight months, where it has been clear that our autonomy has kind of been in the crosshairs. That’s our North Star since the beginning of this federal surge of officers.”
“We didn’t ask for any federal officers. We’re driving crime down, but while they’re here, how can we most strategically use them to accelerate the work that MPD has done. So, that’s our point.”
All this has Washingtonians and Georgetowners debating if they’re safer because of the federal surge.
Many like the National Guard at Metro stations; others do not. Still others ask: what is the Guard doing? Should they be cleaning up the Mall?
On Sunday, two board members of the Friends of Rose Park welcomed the Guard to Rose Park and said they now felt safer in their neighborhood — all while observing MPD make an allegedly threatening homeless person leave the park for good.
One longtime political observer told The Georgetowner: “As a Georgetown resident one can support the National Guard, but we don’t have to support the mission. Seeing the National Guard patrolling in Georgetown at Washington Harbour or Wisconsin Avenue is something we would not expect when life is otherwise normal in Georgetown.”
And, so, yesterday — surprises of surprises — Trump wrote on social media that D.C. is now a “crime-free zone” —“Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in D.C.”
Meanwhile, the administration needs Congress to extend its 30-day takeover, which expires next Wednesday, Sept. 10.
National Guard on Wisconsin Avenue near the Embassy of Thailand. Photo by Gail Daubert.
The Louisiana National Guard at 2900 K St. NW. Georgetowner photo.
National Guard on 27th Street near Rose Park tennis courts. Photo by Peggy Sands.
I am surprised and disappointed at the apparent insensitivity of the two board members of the Friends of Rose Park to those that live on the fringe in our neighborhood. We all need to be more supportive of those around us who are in need. There are highly capable social service organizations nearby including Miriam’s Kitchen and the Georgetown Ministry Center who can be of assistance Thank you