Shot (if you’ll pardon the expression), one week ago:
Hours after President Donald Trump announced an unprecedented move to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), a man was shot and killed Monday evening in a popular Washington, D.C., neighborhood, marking the 100th homicide in the District so far this year.
According to the MPD, officers from the Third District responded at approximately 6:56 p.m. on Aug. 11 to reports of gunfire in the 1200 block of 12th Street NW in Logan Circle. …
The killing marked the 100th homicide in Washington, D.C., this year and the first since the Trump administration took control of the MPD, according to homicide statistics.
Chaser:
🚨 DC WINNING!
Washington D.C. just had 7 straight days with ZERO homicides for the first time in forever!
– Carjackings? Plummeted by 83%!
– Robberies? Sliced by 46%!
– Car thefts? Down 21%!
– Overall violent crime? Down by 22%!— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) August 21, 2025
Gee … what might have changed?
Just how unusual would this interregnum be? DC had averaged about 3.5 homicides a week so far this year, with 31 weeks this year before Donald Trump federalized law enforcement in the capital. That actually looked better than last year’s count, which was at 115 homicides by this time in 2024. According to MPDC statistics, crime had actually declined by double-digit percentages in most categories this year, but then again, MPDC has cooked those numbers for the last few years, too. The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into this alleged fraud based on a whistleblower’s lawsuit recently settled by the MPDC.
Even with the cooked numbers, however, DC suffered a horrendous crime rate that far outstripped that of any state — even the worst of states in terms of criminal activity. John Lott ran down those numbers yesterday at The Federalist:
When measured against states, D.C.’s violent crime rate was 54 percent higher than New Mexico, the most dangerous state, and 220 percent higher than the national average. Against cities, D.C. outpaced every one of the 20 largest cities and ranked second highest among the 25 most populous.
The murder rate looks even worse. D.C.’s murder rate ran 169 percent higher than Louisiana’s, the deadliest state, and an astonishing 523 percent higher than that of the average state. No city in the top 20 came close. Philadelphia had the second-highest murder rate in that group, with 26 murders per 100,000 people, yet D.C.’s rate was 50 percent higher. Among the 25 largest cities, D.C. ranked second overall.
Robbery paints the bleakest picture. D.C.’s robbery rate was 370 percent higher than Maryland, the worst state, and a staggering 955 percent higher than that of the average state. Among the 25 most populous cities, D.C. ranked first in robberies. Across all 796 U.S. cities with more than 50,000 residents, D.C. still ranked third.
While D.C. isn’t setting record rape or aggravated assault rates, it is 191 percent and 140 percent above the average rate for states.
Despite this, and despite that this all takes place in the nation’s capital, Democrats insisted that enforcement wasn’t the answer — and neither was federal intervention. In its way, this argument parallels the Biden border crisis, wherein Democrats insisted that only amnesty and open borders plus lots of social spending could solve the problem. Trump solved it within weeks simply by enforcing the law and securing the border.
At least in the first week, Trump has managed to have a similar impact on public safety in DC. Perhaps this won’t sustain itself forever; homicides will certainly happen, but hopefully at much lower rates. However, Trump’s success once again demonstrates the value of leadership and a muscular response to law-breaking. As David Marcus pointed out yesterday, this should surprise no one:
What DC needed was not a slow and steady approach to crime that fluctuates the rates here and there. It needed a shock to the system, and it got one. The patient is responding very well.
The lesson here, as Shakespeare put it, is “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly,” which is to say that history shows us that cleaning up urban crime is not a slow, laborious process, but one to be attacked fast and aggressively.
In his first term as mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani oversaw a 60% drop in Gotham’s murder rate, and a violent crime drop of 56%, much of it in his first two years.
Indeed. We learned these lessons almost 40 years ago, and those policies remained successful until progressives shoved us backward decades in crime response, with devastating impacts on American cities across the continent. DC was the worst, but DC is hardly alone.
With this demonstration, Trump has snapped us out of our sob-story reverie and reminded us that criminals flourish where law enforcement treads tentatively and prosecutors act pusillanimously. If we want our cities to be safe, then put enough police on the streets to enforce the laws and prosecute criminals who violate them.
I’ll have further thoughts on the cultural meaning of this and other developments later today.
Editor’s Note:
President Donald Trump is returning Washington, D.C. to the American people by locking up violent criminals and restoring order.
We’ve covered D.C.’s decay for years. Support us today in our coverage of its comeback, and to continue to report on President Trump’s successes. Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
