Washington (AP) – a month after President Donald Trump’s law enforcement authorities can give fewer crimes in the capital of the nation. According to official figures, there are fewer weapons on the streets and fewer homeless warehouse. But for some who in Washington, DC, work or live, the operation has triggered fear and to change the way they see their place in the United States – and how they think that the United States see them.
Without an extension of the congress, President Trump’s 30-day emergency declaration, which the district of the district was federizing on Wednesday, runs. The exploit of the National Guard will continue at least for the time being.
Since Trump Chicago and Baltimore are now in sight, all eyes are aimed at the Columbia district and how it can be seen from this unprecedented takeover.
Here are some snack bars from the emergency period:
Crime seems to have happened. But it already fell
The president praised his escalate as a resounding success. But the reality is less clearly cut.
According to the White House, there were more than 2,100 arrests from August 7th when the federal law enforcement authorities began until September 8th.
According to the White House, 20 alleged gang members, including several from the groups MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. In addition, 222 firearms were confiscated and 50 homeless warehouses were dismantled, according to the White House.
The figures of the metropolitan police classes show that violence crimes dated 39% during the escalate compared to the same period of the previous year, including a decline in murders by 53%, with seven during the rise, compared to 15 during the same period in 2024.
The approximately 2,000 wax members from DC and seven states largely have the U -Bahn stations and the main transit hub, Union station, and occasionally patrolled garbage.
Brian Levin, emeritus professor of criminal justice at California State University in San Bernardino, said that the crime had already decreased in the decline in January for the District of Columbia. The escalate was likely to escalate that it is tough to say how much, he said.
“DC is one of the smaller cities in the United States. It is easier to polish,” said Levin. “It may not work elsewhere.”
For Trump, it may assist him politically projecting a demanding crime picture at least for the moment. Its general approval rating slightly rose from 40% in July to 45% a month later. This is based on an AP-NORC survey from the end of August when 81% of Americans see crime in large cities as a “big problem”.
The Mayor of DC caught between Trump and her voters
Mayor Muriel Bowser has largely avoided the type of biting rhetoric and personal attacks against the president, which was typical of other top-class democratic leaders.
Instead, she worked with the efforts of the administration, including the cooperation of MPD officials closer with the federal immigration agents, as Trump demanded. Last week, in an allusion to further cooperation, she issued an order to continue the work of an emergency center.
She also supported the demands of the administration to the success of the escalate. Bowser said the crime had dropped before Trump had issued the emergency command. However, she admitted that the federal change had a “significant” impact on crime.
At a press conference on August 27, the mayor said that Carjackings had dropped by 87% since the same period of 20 days in the previous year.
“We know that the neighborhoods feel safer and are safer when carjackings drop when the exploit of weapons goes down when murder murder or robbery decreases.
Your approach is a powerful contrast to other opposition democratic leaders in Chicago or LA and shows how much DC is subject to the moods of the federal government. The district has received the agreement approved in 1973 about a constrained house rule of autonomy, but the political leaders of the federal government retain considerable control over local affairs, including the approval of the household and law adopted by the DC Council. The Republicans, who control both chambers, have already frozen more than 1 billion US dollars in local expenses and reduced the city’s budget in the middle of the financial year.
However, the members of the city council showed less reluctance and criticized the escalate very critically. Last week, the district under the direction of its elected Attorney General asked a federal court to intervene in the takeover, which it described it as “forced military crew”.
The capital of the nation takes an inventory of its future
If, as expected, the emergency is not extended by the congress, the MPD will no longer be under the president’s authority and will take part in federal operations such as immigration rounds.
“The MPD is not forced to be instructed by MPD services like the president. That changes,” said Bowser on Monday. “Shooting someone? Still Illegal. Carjackings are still going to be illegal. Stilling from the shops? Still illegal. That will not change on September 11th. It will be illegal.”
In practical terms, what citizens see may not change much. The command of the DC Guard members were extended until December and are under the direct command of the President, in contrast to the states in which governors command their national guard contingents. Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, said that he is planning to send another 300 wax members to DC in the coming weeks to support law enforcement.
When asked about future plans, a spokeswoman for the White House said that the details of the continued participation of the law enforcement agencies “have to be changed in order to meet the needs of the law enforcement authorities in the course of the operation”.
James Nolan, Professor of Sociology at West Virginia University, said it was still to be seen whether the influx of law enforcement authorities was sustainable or underlying problems.
“Things related to crime are also related to physical and mental and emotional health problems,” he said. If only aggressive police work is used, it will most likely bring frustration and conflicts between the community and the prosecution, he said.
The escalate may have damaged the relationships of the community
Many residents annoy the takeover with uniformed and armed guards who patrol metro stations, tourist locations and districts. In a renowned DC district with a traditionally high crime rate, the residents believed that they wanted more law enforcement agencies, but not the way Trump had used, especially since the exploit of masked ICE officers who took custody.
“What relationships do we have to repair as soon as this increase is over?” Asked Senior Police Commander Jaron Hickman.
In a protest on Saturday against the climb, the thousands, two women, both immigrants, pulled, said the fear that came from the climb.
Laura, 43, who had emigrated from Mexico 25 years ago, said she came across immigration officers three times three times last month, most recently at one of the main traffic roads of the city, New York Avenue. As a restaurant worker, she avoided her by taking a side street.
The 49 -year -old Guadalupe, which Laura likes, did not want to share her last name or photographed her last name for fear of retribution, said she tried to take her adult children to protest, but they were suspicious. “You are Americans, but you have Latino faces,” she said, adding that she came to the USA from El Salvador at the age of 18.
“I am legal in this country, but I’m still afraid because I have a Latino face,” she said. “I have the feeling that we no longer have any rights in this country.”
