On August 11, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order declaring a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., invoking §740 of the Home Rule Act to direct the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) “for federal purposes,” and delegating operational control to the Attorney General. He also deployed roughly 800 National Guard troops. It’s the first time any president has used this provision. Meanwhile, Trump’s “crime emergency” is being declared at a time when violent crime in the nation’s capital at a 30 year low. The data say the District just posted its lowest violent-crime year in three decades, with declines continuing into 2025. That disconnect isn’t incidental—it’s the point. It’s easy to just shrug this off, exhausted, as another bit of Trumpian nonsense. But it’s a recognizable part of a pattern that’s part of “authoritarian capture.” That aspect of it is worth a deeper look.
What actually changed yesterday
The order says “special conditions of an emergency nature” require using MPD for federal purposes such as protecting federal buildings and “the orderly functioning” of government—language broad enough to cover almost any show-of-force posture downtown. The President delegated this power to the Attorney General, and the Mayor “shall provide” MPD services as deemed necessary. By statute, the White House must send Congress a written notice within 48 hours explaining the reason and how long the need is likely to continue; without a new law, the control sunsets after 30 days.
The numbers don’t match the narrative
Official figures undercut the “emergency” frame. DOJ’s U.S. Attorney in D.C. reported that 2024 violent crime fell 35% from 2023 to a 30-year low, based on MPD data; trendlines into 2025 remain downward across most violent categories. Independent analysts at the Council on Criminal Justice show mid-year 2025 declines in homicide and other violent offenses in D.C., mirroring national urban patterns. Fact-checks of Trump’s claims (e.g., that D.C. leads the world in homicide) found cherry-picked 2023 peaks and international comparisons that don’t hold.
Why autocrats fixate on the capital
Authoritarian (and would-be authoritarian) leaders often start by consolidating control over policing in the capital—because the capital is the TV set, the protest hub, and the seat of national legitimacy.
India (Delhi): The national government—not the elected city leader—controls Delhi Police. The 2023 “Services” law further tightened central control over postings and discipline, effectively outvoting the Chief Minister on key personnel. It’s a standing “capital exception.”
Russia (Moscow focus via Rosgvardiya): Putin created a National Guard in 2016 that reports directly to him, consolidating riot control and internal order across the country and especially the capital. It’s built for crowd control and regime security.
Turkey (Ankara/Istanbul under emergency rule, 2016-2018): A nationwide state of emergency enabled decree-rule and sweeping purges, including of judges and prosecutors—blunting institutional checks on security-force power in the capital and beyond.
El Salvador (San Salvador under a rolling “state of exception,” since 2022): Mass detentions produced headline crime drops alongside due-process collapse—an object lesson in how emergency policing becomes normalized.
D.C. is unusually vulnerable to this kind of move because of its constitutional status. Section 740 of the Home Rule Act gives a U.S. president a unique, temporary lever to commandeer local police for “federal purposes.” There’s no parallel statute for Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, or any state capital. Promises to “do this in other cities” are mostly about exporting the optics (federal task forces, Guard theatrics, mass “sweeps”), not duplicating the legal mechanism.
The playbook, step by step
Declare a vague “emergency.” Use elastic wording to bypass normal process. In D.C., “special conditions of an emergency nature” is undefined, making the threshold whatever the White House says it is—despite falling crime.
Centralize policing in the capital. Shift control from local democratic institutions to the executive (directly or via a loyal appointee). It’s the visible proof-of-concept.
Measure ‘success’ in spectacle metrics. Troop counts, arrest tallies, encampment clearances—rather than durable, evidence-based safety outcomes. That’s straight from the global script.
Normalize and expand. Keep renewing the “exception,” or copy its look elsewhere using different legal hooks. That’s how emergency powers become governance.Upgrade to paid
What to watch next in Washington
The 48-hour letter. It must say why §740 was invoked and estimate how long the need will continue. If it’s hand-wavy, expect immediate pushback in court and on the Hill.
The 30-day clock. Without a joint resolution passed by both chambers and signed into law, control ends 30 days from August 11—i.e., September 10, 2025. An August recess doesn’t stop the clock; only a sine-die adjournment would, and that’s not in play.
Replication to “other cities.” There is no §740 outside D.C. Expect federal-agent surges, politicized stats, and tough-talk pressers rather than a true police takeover. That matters for how local leaders and courts respond.
Bottom line
This isn’t about an ungovernable crime wave—it’s about who governs the capital and what claims Trump can make the public see on TV. Around the world, executives lock down the capital first, claim emergency necessity, and then measure success by spectacle. D.C.’s unique legal carve-out makes it the easiest place in America to run that play. The question now is whether Congress, the courts, and the city’s own data can force this “emergency” back to reality before the exception becomes the rule.
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Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
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