President Donald Trump has been speaking more about crime in Washington, DC, even suggesting the federal government could take control to restore order. Last week, he increased the presence of federal law enforcement after a former official was attacked, connecting the move to his earlier executive order to “Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”
At a press conference on Monday, Trump claimed the nation’s capital had “become one of the most dangerous anywhere in the world.” But do the facts support that claim?
What the Numbers Show
Despite Trump’s warnings, official crime statistics tell a different story. A January press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, using police data, reported that violent crime in 2024 was at its lowest point in 30 years. Crimes such as homicides, robberies, armed carjackings, and assaults with dangerous weapons all went down, according to Newsweek.
Washington Metropolitan Police data shows violent crime dropped 26% compared to the same time last year. This includes a 12% drop in homicides, a 28% drop in robberies, a 20% drop in assaults with dangerous weapons, and a 37% drop in carjackings—the biggest decrease of all.
An August FBI report also showed an overall decline in serious crimes. The number of assaults, homicides, kidnappings, abductions, and sex offenses in DC fell from 23,914 in 2023 to 22,320 in 2024.
Of those 22,320 crimes against people, assaults made up the vast majority at 21,437 cases. Other crimes included 655 sex offenses, 179 homicides, and 49 kidnappings. While DC’s crime rate per person is still higher than in larger states like California, New York, and Texas, the overall trend in recent years has been a decrease, not an increase.
