Washington, DC, is reeling from a bombshell congressional report that accuses Police Chief Pamela Smith of twisting crime numbers to paint a rosier picture than reality suggests.
A House Oversight Committee investigation, released recently, claims Smith pressured officers to downplay violent crimes through questionable classifications, undermining reported drops in crime rates while fueling skepticism about public safety data amid a federal policing surge.
Let’s rewind to earlier this year when whispers of manipulated stats first surfaced from the DC Police Union, alleging officers were nudged to downgrade charges.
By mid-year, President Trump, citing worsening crime, launched a federal crackdown in DC with National Guard and federal agents, a move initially resisted by Mayor Muriel Bowser, who touted a 30-year low in violent crime.
Bowser’s tune changed, though, as she later greenlit the federal presence indefinitely after high-profile incidents, including a fatal shooting of a congressional intern, shook the city.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee dug deeper, notifying Bowser’s office of their probe by late October, setting the stage for a damning reveal.
The report, dropped on a quiet Sunday, pulls no punches, alleging Smith demanded officers slash crime stats “by any means necessary,” even if it meant mislabeling violent acts like assaults or burglaries.
Interviews with seven district commanders paint a grim picture—Smith reportedly fixated on daily public crime tallies, at times scolding subordinates for sticking to accurate reporting.
One commander, Michael Pulliam of the 3rd District, even landed on paid leave after accusations of tampering with data, a stark warning to others, perhaps.
Listen to this chilling account: “Chief Smith, commanders testified, was so preoccupied with the statistics of the select crimes that were made public that she incentivized her subordinates to lower those crimes by whatever means necessary,” states the 21-page House Oversight Committee report.
That’s not just a bureaucratic oops—that’s a deliberate push to hide the ugly truth, eroding trust in a city already grappling with safety concerns under federal scrutiny.
Another unnamed commander added, “There is a direction to get away from the ADW [assault with a dangerous weapon charge] because, again, the focus of this executive management has been on the crime numbers.”
City data boasted a 35% drop in violent crime and an 11% dip in property crime last year, but with Smith allegedly requiring personal approval for classifications—a break from tradition—those numbers now look more like fiction than fact.
Trump himself called it out during the federal surge rollout, declaring, “Crime is getting worse. Not getting better, it’s getting worse,” a sentiment many DC residents might quietly nod to despite progressive claims of progress.
With Smith set to step down later this month after Mayor Bowser announced her resignation, and a parallel Justice Department report looming with similar findings, the fallout from this scandal could reshape how DC tackles crime—and who gets to call the shots.
