Alongside the taxis waiting outside Union Station in Washington DC, the sight of uniformed troops standing next to armored military vehicles has been greeting passengers getting off their trains. It is a striking symbol of President Trump's efforts to tackle a crime emergency in the US capital, which has seen his administration take over its police department and send National Guard troops, FBI and ICE agents onto the streets. Trump says his crime crackdown, which began on 11 August, has had an immediate effect: The numbers are down like we wouldn't believe, but we believe it. And he has claimed that it has led to an extended period of time without any murders, a trend he says has not been seen in the city in decades.
So what do the crime figures show? There has been a significant fall in overall violent crime since the crackdown started, according to Washington's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). It recorded 75 violent crimes from 12-26 August, a drop of 23% on the previous two weeks. Property crimes, such as burglary and vehicle theft, fell by about a quarter over the same period. There was a smaller fall in the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon and an increase in recorded sex abuse.
US crime analyst Jeff Asher says this may not reveal the whole picture though. Reporting [of crime] always lags so some of that decline is likely artificial. You probably need six weeks or so for incident-based reporting to catch up and make a comparison of the most recent period.
MPD figures also show violent crime has fallen in the city over the past fortnight when compared to the same period last year. Trump has repeatedly criticized police figures - which showed violent crime falling in 2024 and so far in 2025 - but we cannot find instances of him publicly rejecting the latest police data showing another fall during his crime crackdown.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has been posting a daily tally of arrests since the DC takeover started. On August 25, she posted there had been 1,007 arrests. She has not given a detailed breakdown but US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said nearly half were illegal criminals who never should have been in this country to begin with. The MPD said from August 11 to August 25, 2025, it made 1,048 arrests - it would not give a breakdown either.
The impact of the arrests and charges was evident when BBC Verify visited DC's District Court on Tuesday. Some defendants have found themselves arrested over crimes which would normally be dealt with by a lower court but are now facing federal offences, which generally result in longer jail time. Lawyers told us that the court was now struggling to process a bigger caseload.
Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui said from his bench that the criminal justice system in DC was not keeping up with the large rise in federal prosecutions being brought. In one hearing, the judge warned suspects were being held in detention for much longer than they should be. If there's going to be a surge in prosecutions there has to be a surge in the protection of human dignity, he said.
The situation regarding murders also requires attention. On 22 August, Trump told reporters that this is the first time in anybody's memory, that you haven't had a murder in a week. It is true that in the week Trump was referring to there had not been any homicides. However, this homicide-free streak is not as rare as the president claimed. DC police figures show there were several similar length periods earlier this year when no homicides were reported.
In conclusion, while Trump claims significant improvements in crime statistics, the nuances and potential discrepancies in data suggest a more complicated narrative, one that emphasizes the challenges faced by law enforcement in a rapidly changing environment.
So what do the crime figures show? There has been a significant fall in overall violent crime since the crackdown started, according to Washington's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). It recorded 75 violent crimes from 12-26 August, a drop of 23% on the previous two weeks. Property crimes, such as burglary and vehicle theft, fell by about a quarter over the same period. There was a smaller fall in the crime of assault with a dangerous weapon and an increase in recorded sex abuse.
US crime analyst Jeff Asher says this may not reveal the whole picture though. Reporting [of crime] always lags so some of that decline is likely artificial. You probably need six weeks or so for incident-based reporting to catch up and make a comparison of the most recent period.
MPD figures also show violent crime has fallen in the city over the past fortnight when compared to the same period last year. Trump has repeatedly criticized police figures - which showed violent crime falling in 2024 and so far in 2025 - but we cannot find instances of him publicly rejecting the latest police data showing another fall during his crime crackdown.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has been posting a daily tally of arrests since the DC takeover started. On August 25, she posted there had been 1,007 arrests. She has not given a detailed breakdown but US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said nearly half were illegal criminals who never should have been in this country to begin with. The MPD said from August 11 to August 25, 2025, it made 1,048 arrests - it would not give a breakdown either.
The impact of the arrests and charges was evident when BBC Verify visited DC's District Court on Tuesday. Some defendants have found themselves arrested over crimes which would normally be dealt with by a lower court but are now facing federal offences, which generally result in longer jail time. Lawyers told us that the court was now struggling to process a bigger caseload.
Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui said from his bench that the criminal justice system in DC was not keeping up with the large rise in federal prosecutions being brought. In one hearing, the judge warned suspects were being held in detention for much longer than they should be. If there's going to be a surge in prosecutions there has to be a surge in the protection of human dignity, he said.
The situation regarding murders also requires attention. On 22 August, Trump told reporters that this is the first time in anybody's memory, that you haven't had a murder in a week. It is true that in the week Trump was referring to there had not been any homicides. However, this homicide-free streak is not as rare as the president claimed. DC police figures show there were several similar length periods earlier this year when no homicides were reported.
In conclusion, while Trump claims significant improvements in crime statistics, the nuances and potential discrepancies in data suggest a more complicated narrative, one that emphasizes the challenges faced by law enforcement in a rapidly changing environment.
