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Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said her city needs to “add hundreds more police” as the Trump administration’s federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is winding down.
Bowser made the admission Wednesday while announcing “a new labor agreement between the District of Columbia and the DC Fraternal Order of the Police” aimed at bolstering officer retention and recruitment.
“Since I have been mayor, in the last ten years, it has been my priority to ensure that we’re hiring the best of the best. That we are retaining the officers that we need to keep D.C. safe. And we’ve always believed that getting back to 4,000 officers is our goal. So, currently, we have a lot of room to grow our department,” Bowser said.
“This year, we’ve hired 135 new recruits and welcomed 124 cadets into our pipeline. And we need to add hundreds more police. We’re currently at 3,188 sworn officers,” she added. “This agreement delivers a 13% pay increase for our officers, sergeants, lieutenants and above, which will begin October 1st of this year.”
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In early August, President Donald Trump declared a public safety emergency in the city and invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to place the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control. That emergency will expire on Sept. 10, according to Bowser.
On Tuesday, her office issued an order that “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, established by the President, as well as the Presidential declaration of emergency.”
“During and after the presidential emergency, 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,” Bowser’s office said.
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The order stated that “since August 11, 2025, due to the cooperative efforts between District and federal officials, violent crime in the District has noticeably decreased.”
“Let me tell you without equivocation that the mayor’s order does not extend the Trump emergency. In fact, it does the exact opposite. What it does is [it] lays out a framework for how we will exit the emergency,” Bowser said Wednesday. “The emergency ends on Sept. 10. The only way it can be extended legally is by the Congress. So, I want the message to be clear to the Congress: We have a framework to request or use federal resources in our city. We don’t need a presidential emergency.”
Bowser’s remarks come as Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X that there were “92 arrests last night and 27 illegal firearms seized in Washington, D.C.”
“Arrests included two homicide suspects and five arrests for assault against law enforcement,” she said.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
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