BREAKING: DC police chief resigns

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Monday that Police Chief Pamela A. Smith will be stepping down. "Chief Smith dramatically drove down violent crime, drove down the homicide rate to its lowest levels in eight years, and helped us restore a sense of safety and accountability in our neighborhoods," she said.

Bowser did not give a specific reason for Smith's departure. Smith spoke to Fox 5, however, and said that she resigned to spend more time with her family. "After 28 years in law enforcement," she said, "I have been going nonstop."

"We met some challenges in August of this year with the federal surge and the executive order with regards to the crime emergency," she said. "But what I will say is that Mayor Muriel Bowser did a fantastic job leading us through those efforts."

"Serving alongside such dedicated professionals, both those on the front lines and those working tirelessly behind the scenes, has been one of the greatest honors of my career," Smith told The Washington Post.

Washington, DC has been the site of a ramp up of National Guard troops in an effort to deter crime. Curfews and other measures were put in place over the summer to encourage teenagers to say home and stop shooting at each other.

In November, two National Guard troops were shot at, one of whom was killed. Smith was appointed in 2023 after 24 years serving with the US Park Police. DC has had five police chiefs since 2007.

DC's Metropolitan Police have been under federal control since August. President Donald Trump has been horrified by the crime in the nation's capital and has been enacting these measures in an attempt to get it all under control.  Mayor Bowser called for "hundreds more police" in September, after Trump's order went into effect in the district.