Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Union Chairman Greggory Pemberton offered his full support for President Donald Trump’s plan to bring in more federal law enforcement assets, including the National Guard.
“We completely agree with the President that the crime in the District of Columbia is out of control and something needs to be done,” Pemberton told Fox News Monday.
The union chief says the issue goes back to 2020, when the district’s city council got caught up in the “reforms” following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
“In 2020, the D.C. city council passed an enormous amount of legislation that handcuffed police officers, exposes them to administrative, civil, and even criminal liability, even when they do their jobs properly,” Pemberton said.
He noted that the D.C. police department is authorized to have 4,000 officers, but currently only has 3,180, so there are over 800 vacancies.
“The fact that we need help from federal law enforcement and maybe even the National Guard shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Pemberton said.
DC Police Union Chairman, @G_Pem joins @SandraSmithFox to discuss how President Trump is declaring a DC Public Safety Emergency.#AmericaReports pic.twitter.com/p3KBAV4Je1
— America Reports (@AmericaRpts) August 11, 2025
On Monday, Trump announced he is placing the D.C. police department under Attorney General Pam Bondi’s control.
Do you support Trump’s decision to restore law and order to D.C.?
“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re gonna take our capital back. We’re taking it back,” Trump said in remarks from the White House briefing room, flanked by Bondi and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, among others.
“Under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States, I’m officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act … and placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control,” the president continued. He can do so for up to 30 days without congressional approval.
Trump further announced that he is deploying 800 soldiers from the D.C. National Guard to assist in restoring order.
The National Guard in D.C. falls under the direct command of the president, while the Guard units in the 50 states are locally controlled by the governors.
In a memorandum posted on the White House website, the president cited some of the recent high-profile examples of violence in the capital, including the murder of two Israeli embassy staff members in May, a congressional intern shot and killed in June, and a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer brutally beaten last week.
Additionally, Trump noted during his briefing, “Just this past weekend, gunfire went through the Navy Yard. I saw it this morning, that they fought back against police. See, they fight back until you knock the hell out of them, because it’s the only language they understand … They’re not going to be fighting back for long.”
.@POTUS: “Just this past weekend, gunfire went through the Navy Yard. I saw that they fought back against police. See, they fight back until you knock the hell out of them because it’s the only language they understand… They’re not going to be fighting back for long.” pic.twitter.com/l8qQASSg0S
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 11, 2025
Trump pointed out that the murder rate in D.C. is higher than in some of the world’s most notoriously violent cities.
The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogotá, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places you hear about as being the worst place on earth,” he said.
“The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled,” Trump added.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youths, drugged-out maniacs, and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump said.
What level of violent crime is acceptable? How many kids getting shot in the street is OK?
DC crime is out of control. But not for long. https://t.co/yKZ7aC3c4P pic.twitter.com/qk2PzZVnSs
— Abigail Jackson (@ATJackson47) August 11, 2025
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser “recently invoked curfews in parts of the city in a bid to keep teens off the street as early as 7 p.m.,” the New York Post reported.
The mayor has also claimed crime rates are down in the city, but Trump asserted the numbers are “phony” and said Bondi would be looking into that issue.
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