WASHINGTON — One year ago this week, President Donald Trump seized unprecedented control of the nation’s capital.In the wake of an attempted carjacking and assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer, the president declared a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C.
— at a time of record low crime rates — and took two executive actions that have reshaped the city’s streets.The first, an executive order titled “Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia,” placed the local police department under federal authority for 30 days, the maximum he could under Home Rule accorded to the District by Congress in 1973.In response, Mayor Muriel Bowser created an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate law enforcement with the federal government, explaining her willingness to cooperate by saying saving Home Rule for the city is her “North Star.” Trump declared at the time: “I’m announcing an historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor ...
and worse.”A year on, more than 4,636 members of the National Guard continue to patrol Washington.They’re hard to miss.
The armed troops in combat fatigues, typically in groups of four, have become a staple sight on the National Mall, Metro platforms, nightlife corridors, city parks and residential neighborhoods.They’re here to stay.Last month, the Defense Department confirmed the mission was extended through Inauguration Day 2029.The largest number of National Guard members came last month, with a total of more than 5,000 following the announcement of a “summer surge” in Washington around the events honoring the nation’s 250th birthday.Along with the highly visible National Guard deployment, the district has also seen this year a surge in federal law enforcement from Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and other agencies.
Though...