Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) issued an executive order Tuesday directing the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to work and cooperate with federal law enforcement officials indefinitely.
A press release from Bowser’s office stated that the mayor’s order “continues the work of the Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center (SBEOC) in managing the District’s response to the Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” which was established by President Donald Trump.
The order from Bowser comes as Trump in early August announced that he was “officially invoking section 740 of the district of Columbia Home Rule Act” and that the MPD would be placed under “direct federal control.” Trump also activated the National Guard.
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The SBEOC “will manage the District’s response, coordinate centralized communications, and ensure coordination with federal law enforcement to the maximum extent allowable by law within the District,” according to the press release.
Per the press release:
The SBEOC will communicate the District’s requests that federal partners adhere to established policing practices that maintain community confidence in law enforcement officers, such as not wearing masks, clearly identifying their agency, and providing identification during arrests and encounters with the public. Post-emergency planning will include the coordination of continued enhanced federal law enforcement efforts with the following agencies, which the District regularly works with: the United States Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Capitol Police, and the United States Secret Service.
“Today, I issued Mayor’s Order 2o25-090 to provide the pathway forward beyond the Presidential emergency,” Bowser wrote in a post on X.
The Washington Post reported that Trump federalizing the MPD “lasts 30 days and is set to expire next week”:
By law, Trump’s federalization of the D.C. police force lasts 30 days and is set to expire next week. Bowser’s announcement may quell any showdown over what happens after that deadline passes by authorizing continued cooperation between the city and federal authorities.
In the week following Trump placing the MPD under federal control, and activating the National Guard, violent crime in the nation’s capital decreased by 22 percent.
Bowser has expressed that she appreciates “the surge of officers that enhance” what the MPD has been able to accomplish, adding that because there has been a reduction in crime, “neighborhoods feel safer and are safer.”
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