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Thirteen members of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., have been placed on administrative leave, pending termination amid an investigation alleging that law enforcement leaders manipulated crime data to create a false perception of safety.
MPD Interim Chief Jeff Carroll on Tuesday said the officers were placed on administrative leave after the internal affairs bureau completed its investigation into crime reporting and have been served with termination papers.
Some of the 13 were already on leave for other matters, he said. All were served with notices of proposed adverse action, meaning they face potential termination, the chief said.
“Our Internal Affairs Bureau has completed an investigation into crime reporting,” Carroll said. “This investigation was reported — it was referred to us earlier this year from the United States Attorney’s Office.”
The chief declined to get into specifics. Fox News Digital has reached out to the MPD, the Justice Department and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for comment.
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A federal investigation that began last year found that the MPD misclassified crime reports, making crime statistics across Washington, D.C., appear “artificially lower.”
The findings were based on a review of nearly 6,000 reports and interviews with more than 50 witnesses, showing that D.C.’s crime numbers were significantly understated, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said at the time.
“We don’t want to minimize any crime,” Carroll said. “Obviously. We want to make sure the crimes are appropriate and classified. We’ll continue to work with that, making sure officers have the appropriate classification. Regardless of the classification of the crime, we want to make sure that all crimes are appropriately investigated.”
Two federal reports were produced in late 2025 regarding the matter — one by the Justice Department and another by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
The probe began as President Donald Trump initiated a federal crackdown in the nation’s capital amid public safety concerns. He argued that crime was worse than city statistics showed as he moved to take temporary control of the force.
Pamela Smith stepped down as MPD chief in 2025, during the investigation into the department’s crime statistics.
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The House report, titled “How D.C.’s Police Chief Undermined Crime Data Accuracy,” alleged Smith prioritized public image over actual crime reduction, often using humiliation and retaliatory transfers to silence subordinates who reported rising crime rates.
She allegedly used mandatory crime briefings — held twice a week in person and three times a week via video — to publicly “dress down” and humiliate commanders in front of their colleagues if they reported an increase in crime, the report states. Commanders who reported crime spikes, or who simply questioned her actions, faced immediate professional retaliation.
DC Police Union President Gregg Pemberton praised the MPD’s move to serve termination papers to high-ranking command staff.
“Justice is being served,” he said in a statement. “The command staff officials responsible for this betrayal must be held accountable, not just for the sake of the thousands of dedicated MPD officers they undermined, but for the residents of the District of Columbia who deserve honest leadership and real public safety. The corruption that endangered lives, eroded trust and allowed shooters, robbers and predators to evade justice cannot be tolerated.”
Pemberton added that the union had previously warned officials that “this toxic culture of coercion, fear and corruption left thousands of cases not investigated, denied victims justice, gaslit residents and endangered public safety.”
Carroll said the department continues to use crime data to help deploy officers in high-crime areas.
“We use crime statistics every day to help us do deployment across the city,” he said. “I do have confidence in those numbers.”
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