What’s next now that Trump’s ‘crime emergency’ in D.C. has ended? Residents weigh in : NPR

Scott Simon, host:

The urgency of President Trump’s declared crime in Washington, DC, is over. On Thursday, the federal government can no longer exercise its control over the district police forces, but the troops of the National Guard and the federal agents remain for the moment. We sent Jennifer Ludden of NPR to see how DC residents feel.

(Soundbite of Horn Halling)

Jennifer Ludden, Byline: I first head to the southeast district of DC of Congress Heights, a high poverty area and a high crime history. Michael Jackson (PH), thirty-two, is waiting for a bus in a yellow vest for his work in maintenance and cleaning. He also lives nearby and said he saw a positive change last month.

Michael Jackson: No more train. You don’t hear a lot of firearms, a lot of gunshots. It is much more peaceful.

Ludden: The DC police department said violent crimes during the sharp increase of 39% compared to the same period last year. Jackson thinks that amplified security has sent a message to potential criminals.

Jackson: Are they really involved with ATF, FBI? So it gave criminals a chance to think, like doing the right thing.

Ludden: So, does he worry who will end now that federal police control is over? Jackson says: No, he doesn’t hope.

Jackson: ‘Cause of Donald Trump. I think if if he wants to do it again, I think he can do it again if he wants it.

Ludden: Then a bus stops.

Is it your bus?

Jackson: Yes, madam.

Ludden: Thank you.

Jackson: Thank you, madam. You have a batset (pH).

Ludden: You too. Bye-bye.

A few pies of houses, Deuce Shelton (PH) came out for a race. She is a retired preschool and says that crime here had already fallen before federal control. The only change she has seen is the many troops in the National Guard published near tourist sites, metro stations and the union station, a large transport center.

Deuce Shelton: When I went to the city center, I would notice them harassing the homeless.

Ludden: The White House says that 50 homeless camps were dismantled during the push. This is part of Trump’s pressure to embellish the city. As for fighting crime, Shelton is not convinced.

Shelton: The guy is an actor. Everything is a show.

Ludden: She says the takeover did not worry much. The district has always had a contradictory vision of federal surveillance. But she thinks that it is part of Trump’s strategy to throw everything on the wall and see what sticks.

Shelton: I just think it’s a game to see how we will react to that. And also a game to see, oh, well, if we did it to DC, we will do it in this city, this city, this city.

(Soundbit of traffic noise)

Ludden: less than half an hour of metro, is the district of rue Gentrifier. At first, federal agents set up traffic checks here, arresting people for minor violations. The region is also full of restaurants with Latin workers, which have been a target for the application of immigration. Anna Garcia (PH) works in the region and worries that it will have a hard blow for the local economy.

Anna Garcia: I just think people are afraid of coming to town now. So I saw a lot of more busy restaurants.

Ludden: The mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser, said that local police will no longer work alongside federal immigration agents. At the corner of the street, I chat with Abigail Friedman. She has had a career in the State Department and is retired now – probably exactly who you think you would feel reassured by more security forces, she says, but she did not do it.

Abigail Friedman: Really disturbing. I didn’t feel safe. I felt like things could happen to me or to one of my neighbors or friends at any time. Things could become uncontrollable.

Ludden: It made him think of a mission in Afghanistan years ago with the army. American soldiers still wondered, why are the Afghans not happy that we are here to protect them?

Friedman: When the National Guard came and the patrol of the ice and the border, all of this appeared here, I understood exactly what the Afghan people felt.

(Soundbit of traffic noise)

Ludden: Friedman calls Trump’s DC, quote, Fig quotation for the authoritarian rule “, and that made him think much more about the vulnerable of the city with his limited rule of domicile.

Friedman: I think that the future means that those of us who live here must be more aware of defending our rights because if we do not speak, we will simply lose more and more all the time.

Ludden: In fact, the very day of the urgency of Trump’s crime expired, a congress committee took a series of measures to exercise more control over the district.

Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington.

(Soundbite du Spacemen from Duke Ellington “Take the A Train”)

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the pages of use of the conditions of use of our website on www.npr.org for more information.

The accuracy and availability of NPR transcriptions may vary. The transcription text can be revised to correct errors or match audio updates. Audio on npr.org can be published after its original broadcast or publication. The file authorizing the NPR programming is the audio recording.