DC Mayor Bowser slams House Oversight report on crime statistics

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized an interim report from the House Oversight Committee on the city’s crime statistics, saying the findings were driven by politics rather than a comprehensive investigation.

Fox News Digital obtained a letter that Bowser sent Monday to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif.

“From the beginning, my Administration has cooperated fully with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s (Committee) investigation into allegations regarding crime statistics released by the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department,” Bowser said in part.

“This cooperation was intended to educate the Committee on the complex topic of crime reporting, address public misrepresentations about crime in the nation’s capital, and identify policies and processes that could be improved to ensure transparent, high-quality crime data. The Committee’s interim report is a disappointing rejection of this good faith approach and instead reflects a rush to judgment in order to meet a politically motivated timetable and issue a report whose outcome appears to have been determined before the investigation began.

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Mayor Muriel Bowser responded to the House Republican report. (Getty Images)

The committee’s 22-page report claims that outgoing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith, who announced her resignation on December 8, oversaw an unprecedented crime reporting response system.

It alleges that Smith, who is expected to remain on the job until the end of the year, pressured commanders on numerous occasions and sometimes asked them to downgrade offenses and avoid classifications that would appear in the city’s daily crime report.

The findings, based on eight transcribed interviews with MPD district commanders, describe a toxic management environment in which accuracy was sacrificed for optics, and career officials were publicly shamed or demoted for presenting Smith with unfavorable crime statistics.

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The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has been accused of manipulating crime statistics. (Getty Images)

Bowser defended Smith in her letter as a key figure in reducing a surge in violent crime and homicides in 2023. She also noted that the committee did not interview Smith or any of the MPD deputy chiefs before releasing its findings.

“Even a cursory review of the report reveals its bias: Of the 22 quotes presented as complaining about Chief Smith’s management style, 20 of them were made by just two command officials interviewed,” Bowser wrote.

The House Oversight investigation took place against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s federal crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital. In August, Trump issued an executive order to combat the District’s “crime epidemic” and deployed federal law enforcement, including the National Guard.

District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith attends a commemoration and reopening ceremony at the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum on May 29, 2025 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Bowser said the district is committed to reporting high-quality, accurate crime statistics.

“The pressure that public leaders should all feel to reduce crime and the fear of crime in our communities will never be an acceptable excuse to intentionally alter and devalue crime, and any law enforcement official who believes otherwise will be held accountable,” she added.