President Donald Trump says he will “free” Washington DC from the crime. To do this and will take control of the Local Police. The Republican, who has been harassing the capital for months, argues that the city lives a “crisis of violence”, although no one knows where the data takes out, as the statistics show the lowest crime rate of the last 30 years. And residents do not recognize their city in the words of the president, who, in the press conference on Monday, described the capital as “insecure, dirty, and filthy.”
“DC is a safe city, it makes no sense what it says. I have been living here for 25 years and I don’t think it is necessary. Business consultant, she was born in the city of San Luis, Minnesota, but has been in the Columbia district for more than her 47 years, where she has resided in diverse neighborhoods such as the central Dupont Circle or Eastern Market, in the heart of the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood. “I’ve never felt threatened,” he says.
The presence of the National Guard, however, does produce uneasy. “As a citizen of Washington DC, I feel it is an imposition. I am worried that my children can go to school on their own, now that they are old to be independent. With this growing police presence, I don’t know if I can let them walk alone.” He points to the last time he was seen to the National Guard deployed in the streets of the capital, as a consequence of the September 11 attacks: “When it was really necessary,” he says.
The deployment of troops arrives to combat an alleged emergency that has turned the capital into a nest of violence where thieves, rapists and murderers camp their ease, Trump said to justify the control of the city police.
However, the total violent crimes in the Columbia district in 2024 decreased 35% compared to 2023 and is the lowest in more than 30 years, according to data collected by the Department of the Metropolitan Police (MPD) and in addition to the general reduction of violent crimes, homicides have decreased by 32%; Thefts, 39%; The robberies of armed vehicles, 53%, and assaults with weapons, 27% compared to 2023 levels.
“DC is a very safe city. You can always find crimes, but the trend is clearly down,” says John Linko, 58 and also a consultant, but politics (in the center of the political power of the country there are many consultants, lobbyists and lawyers). Originally from New York, more than two decades ago that was established in Georgetown, one of the most careful and picturesque neighborhoods of the city. Difficult to think about the “dirt” of the city when walking through its wooded streets where colorful house rows are home in a good part of the politicians and personalities of the capital.
“It only says foolishness. The next thing that will do will be to chase the unicorns who have gone crazy, or perhaps the elves that are becoming small … Simply invented things. There are no data to support it,” says Linko. “If the city can be safer, that’s fine. But it seems to me that it is more than someone to start as authoritarian regimes do. I can see it replicating this in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco,” he says.
Precisely in this last Californian city on Monday, the trial against the Administration began because Trump ordered in June in response to the raids against migrants. About 4,000 National Guard and 700 troops marines They occupied the second most populous city in the country. Most of the troops have already left, but there are still 250 members of the National Guard, according to the latest figures provided by the Pentagon.
Trump’s statements about the alleged situation of generalized insecurity in the capital of the United States began as a result of an attack suffered by a member of Elon Musk’s team in the Government Efficiency Department (Doge). Edward Coristine was the victim of an attempt to rob violently and the police arrested two 15 -year -old young people as alleged authors. The US prosecutor Jeanine Pirro, appointed by Trump and in charge of most DC’s crimes, said the country’s capital protects violent young people. Last week, he joined the president to advocate that 14 -year -old teenagers are tried as adults (now, only 15 -year -olds can be).
Residents asked about this newspaper recognize that, as in every city, crimes are committed, but they do not feel insecure. This is also confirmed by stylist Markia Morris, born in DC 26 years ago. Accompanied by an eight -year -old girl and her dog says she feels very sure in the city. So much, that your daughter can go to the park alone. “Washington DC is not a dangerous area. It was before, but not anymore. There are many good places to live.” For her, the deployment of 800 members of the National Guard “is crazy.”
The taking of a Democratic city
Trump says that not even tourists want to visit DC for violence. But several that walk through the National Mall, the esplanade that extends between 3th Street, near the Capitol, and 14, and brings together museums, sculptures and commemorative monuments, such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr’s, they affirm the opposite.
“I do not see insecurity in the street, nor do I see people who can disturb you tranquility. I don’t know at night, in certain neighborhoods …” says a 31 -year -old Spanish tourist who prefers not to be recognized because he works for an American company. The woman who accompanies him believes that, on the contrary ,. “There are Spaniards who do not want to come to the United States by Donald Trump, for their policy.”
“Isn’t it rather a political issue that you want to win the votes of the people who live here?” He wonders trying to find a custom reason. The truth is that in DC the Republican does not have it easy. More than 90% of the voters supported the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris,
Since 1973, Washington DC has worked in a form of limited self -government thanks to the Autonomy Law of the Columbia district. On numerous occasions, Trump has launched threats against the mayor of the city, Democrat Muriel Bowser, who has already ceded to the president’s pressures. Among other measures, which protects migrants, in line with the anti -immigration campaign of the Republican.
This Monday, the mayor replied to the control of the Local Police saying that she would comply with the law in regards to the “alleged emergency”, although she indicated that Trump’s actions justified that the Columbia district was a state with legal protection to such actions. “While this action is disturbing today and unprecedented, I cannot say that, given the rhetoric of the past, we are totally surprised,” he said.
In addition to authorizing the deployment of the National Guard, Trump, who was flanked by the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, announced that he will dismantle the camps of homeless people, although he did not specify where he would realize them.
Linko believes that the 700,000 inhabitants of the city will not alter much with the presence of the guards because, as a core of political power, DC is accustomed to the visits of leaders, demonstrations and the increase in security because of it, but it will depend on how they act.
“If they begin to appear, as some troops have done now or some (immigration and customs control service), entering places and grabbing random people with masks, it looks a lot like the transition from Weimar Germany of 1933 to the next phase, which was not very good. My frustration is that these policies are based on fantastic figures that have nothing to do with science. fiction, nothing to do with history, ”he says.
