The head of Washington, D.C.’s police department pressured staff to falsely report crime statistics and pushed for greater use of lesser charges for certain offenses in order to manipulate D.C.’s crime data, according to a new House investigation.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith pressured lower ranking commanders to produce lower crime statistics and created a culture of fear and punished officers who did not follow her commands, the House Oversight Committee revealed in a new report.
“Testimony from experienced and courageous MPD commanders has exposed the truth: Chief Pamela Smith coerced staff to report artificially low crime data and cultivated a culture of fear to achieve her agenda,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) said.
“Chief Smith’s decision to mislead the public by manipulating crime statistics is dangerous and undermines trust in both local leadership and law enforcement. Her planned resignation at the end of the month should not be seen as a voluntary choice, but as an inevitable consequence that should have occurred much earlier.”
National Review has reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department for comment.
Rather than focusing on lowering actual crime levels, Smith prioritized reduced public crime statistics above all, according to the report. She did so through pressuring employees and retaliating against them if they produced negative crime reports.
“Commanders testified they regularly expected to be berated and embarrassed by Chief Smith in mandatory crime briefings if they brought news of an increase in reported crime numbers. Commanders also noted they believed their positions and livelihoods were dependent on reporting low crime numbers to Chief Smith. Various commanders testified to observing several of their fellow commanders being removed or demoted immediately following a negative crime report,” the Oversight Committee’s report reads.
Additionally, Smith created the expectation that she and her team would have to review the crimes that would impact public crime statistics when they were being entered into police systems. Making matters worse, Smith sought an increased use in lower-level criminal charges that would go unreported to the public, instead of more serious charges that would be part of the police’s public crime data.
The Oversight Committee’s report is based on testimony from eight commanders, one of whom is on suspension for allegedly altering crime statistics. The panel protected the names of the commanders to prevent retaliation against them. Each one of the report’s assertions about Smith’s leadership cites testimony the commanders gave behind closed doors.
Commanders are important conduits in the D.C. police hierarchy because they oversee geographic districts and report to executive-level staff. The commanders’s experience in law enforcement ranges from 16-27 years each. Due to their experience, the Oversight Committee considers them credible witnesses. Upon Smith’s resignation, the Oversight Committee recommends D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) appoint a new police chief who will address the manipulated crime statistics head on.
In August, Comer launched the investigation following President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington to quell violent crime. Trump’s use of the National Guard led to a noticeable drop in criminal activity across D.C. during the initial days of the deployment.
It also sparked a national debate about D.C.’s crime statistics because critics of Trump attributed the reductions in crime after the National Guard deployment to existing trends in the city’s crime stats. After years of being plagued by violent crime, D.C.’s publicly available 2025 crime data showed a remarkable 25 percent reduction in violent crime.
Several of the D.C. police commanders believed Trump’s deployment of the National Guard was an effective measure for countering violent crime, given the department’s existing personnel issues. National Guard troops have been visible in some of Washington, D.C.’s most popular locations over the past few months. Last month, a judge found Trump’s National Guard deployment to be illegal, but an appellate court recently paused the decision for the time being.