Washington, DC residents were repeatedly told that crime was falling and that public safety was improving. New investigations now show that this picture was not fully accurate. Federal prosecutors and congressional investigators have concluded that the Metropolitan Police Department manipulated crime data in ways that made the city appear safer than it actually was. While the conduct may not result in criminal charges, it raises serious ethical questions and points to political corruption that harmed the people who live, work, and visit the nation’s capital.
Who Uncovered the Manipulation
The findings come from two major investigations. One was conducted by the Republican led House Oversight Committee. The other was led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia under U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
The House Oversight Committee based its interim report on interviews with eight senior Metropolitan Police Department commanders. Pirro’s office conducted its own months long federal review that examined nearly 6,000 police reports and included interviews with more than 50 witnesses. Both investigations reached the same core conclusion. Crime data was deliberately altered to make public safety conditions appear better than they really were.
What the DC Police Department Did
According to the House Oversight Committee, the manipulation occurred under the leadership of Police Chief Pamela Smith, who was appointed in 2023 and announced her resignation effective December 31. The committee described a toxic management culture in which senior leaders placed intense pressure on commanders to produce low crime numbers.
Commanders told investigators they were pressured to reclassify serious crimes as lesser offenses. Assaults with deadly weapons were sometimes downgraded to endangerment with a firearm. Burglaries were allegedly reclassified as unlawful entry. These lower level categories were excluded from the daily crime statistics shared with the public.
The committee also alleged retaliation against officers who resisted these practices, including demotions, transfers, and other punitive actions. Lawmakers said this created an ecosystem of fear and intimidation inside the department.
How Crime Statistics Were Manipulated
The core tactic was reclassification. Crimes that should have been counted as violent felonies were labeled as intermediate or lesser offenses. Because these categories were not included in the department’s public daily crime reports, the official numbers appeared significantly lower.
Jeanine Pirro described this process as a deflation of crime data. She said, “After a thorough review, it is evident that a significant number of reports were misclassified, making crime appear artificially lower than it actually was.”
The House Oversight Committee confirmed that leadership placed an aggressive emphasis on lowering reported crime numbers rather than accurately reporting incidents.
The Scale of the Misclassification
Pirro’s investigation reviewed nearly 6,000 police reports and found widespread misclassification across the department. While investigators did not release an exact final count of altered cases, they concluded that the number was significant enough to materially distort the public’s understanding of crime in the city.
The committee report similarly described the manipulation as systemic rather than isolated. Interviews with seven district commanders and an eighth commander placed on leave painted a consistent picture of deliberate pressure to reduce reported crime totals.
What the Actual Crime Picture Looks Like
Publicly released Metropolitan Police Department data showed violent crime declining 28 percent year to date and a 35 percent drop from 2023 to 2024. These figures were used repeatedly to argue that conditions in the city were improving.
However, investigators now say those figures understated the true level of crime. Pirro stated that crime in Washington was higher than publicly reported during this period.
Crime analysts have acknowledged discrepancies between the department’s public data and what was reported to the FBI. While some experts say overall crime trends still show improvement, they agree that underreporting raises serious transparency concerns.
Residents were told they were living through a steady and dramatic improvement in safety. Investigators now say those claims were based on incomplete and manipulated data. Crimes that directly affected people’s daily lives were excluded from headline statistics, giving a false sense of security.
House Oversight Chair James Comer said, “Every single person who lives, works, or visits the District of Columbia deserves a safe city, yet it’s now clear the American people were deliberately kept in the dark about the true crime rates in our nation’s capital.”
The committee argued that the gap between reported crime and actual crime undermined trust in both law enforcement and local leadership.
Why There May Be No Criminal Charges
Despite the scope of the misreporting, Jeanine Pirro announced that her office will not bring criminal charges. She said the conduct did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense under federal law.
“The conduct here does not rise to the level of a criminal charge,” Pirro said, adding that responsibility now falls on department leadership to address the problem internally.
This conclusion highlights a troubling reality. Manipulating statistics to shape political narratives may not always be illegal, but it can still be deeply unethical and damaging.
A Political and Ethical Failure
The investigations paint a picture of an agency more focused on optics than honesty. Crime data was allegedly adjusted to support claims of success, calm public concern, and resist federal intervention.
Chief Pamela Smith has denied authorizing or supporting any manipulation of crime numbers. Mayor Muriel Bowser praised Smith’s leadership and attributed falling crime to the department’s hard work. Critics argue that praise rings hollow when residents were misled about the risks they faced.
In the end, this scandal is not just about spreadsheets and classifications. It is about trust. When public safety data is manipulated, people make decisions based on false information. Families choose where to live. Businesses decide whether to invest. Visitors decide whether a city feels safe.
Even if no one is charged, the damage has already been done. The people of Washington, DC were owed the truth. Instead, they were given a political narrative that concealed danger and eroded confidence in the institutions meant to protect them.
