The House Oversight Committee told D.C. Metropolitan Police it will investigate to determine if it manipulated crime data to make crime rates appear lower, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post.
D.C. officials have put out data noting the area’s lower crime rate to protest President Donald Trump federalizing the police force and deploying the National Guard. Violent crime has been at historically low levels since 2023, according to data released by Metropolitan Police.
A whistleblower says otherwise, prompting the committee to investigate “disturbing allegations that D.C. crime data is inaccurate and intentionally manipulated, potentially at the direction of Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) leadership,” according to a letter Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith, the Post reported.
Comer is also requesting assistance from Michael Pulliam, a D.C. police commander who was placed on leave this year amid allegations he made inappropriate changes to crime data, the Post reported. Pulliam has denied the allegations.
The whistleblower, who came forward a month ago, claims “crime statistics were manipulated on a widespread basis and at the direction of supervisory officials,” Comer wrote.
This is not the first time D.C. police have been accused of manipulating crime data. The Post previously reported that managers have reclassified crimes to downplay the level of danger in their police districts and avoid scrutiny from higher-ups, while a police officer claimed in a 2020 lawsuit that the department retaliated against her after she alleged supervisors were distorting statistics.
Trump has also doubted the crime figures released by D.C. officials.
“Mayor Muriel Bowser must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total Federal takeover of the City,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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