U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said that a federal investigation found widespread misclassification of crime reports by the Metropolitan Police Department, leaving Washington, D.C.’s crime statistics “artificially lower.”
The review, based on nearly 6,000 reports and interviews with over 50 witnesses, revealed that the city’s crime numbers were significantly understated. “It is evident that a significant number of reports had been misclassified, making crime appear artificially lower than it was,” Pirro said.
Her office launched the investigation last August amid President Trump’s federal crackdown on crime in the capital, which included an executive order targeting the “epidemic of crime” and deployment of federal law enforcement, including the National Guard.
“The uncovering of these manipulated crime statistics makes clear that President Trump has reduced crime even more than originally thought, since crimes were actually higher than reported,” Pirro said, adding that his measures have improved safety for D.C. residents.
