BREAKING: DC police chief resigns amid homicide data manipulation investigation

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." Metro PD officers have said that the crime stats have been manipulated to make the police look better.

"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. Smith came into her position in 2023, one of the worst years for homicide on record.

“When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense,” Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Gregg Pemberton said in August.

The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the allegations that crime data was manipulated. "A whistleblower with direct knowledge of internal MPD operations and crime data discussions also informed the Committee that crime statistics were allegedly manipulated on a widespread basis and at the direction of senior MPD officials. According to the whistleblower, while MPD took action against a single District Commander, the issue potentially affects all seven patrol districts, as MPD leadership allegedly instructed Commanders to routinely downgrade charges to artificially lower District crime statistics," the House committee said.

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.

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