The Justice Department is investigating whether Washington, D.C. police manipulated crime data to make the crime rates appear lower than they really are in the city, two senior law enforcement officials confirmed to NBC News.
The investigation is being run out out of the D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office, the officials said.
The probe comes after NBC affiliate NBC4 reported last month that a Metropolitan Police Department commander, Michael Pulliam, was suspended and put on leave in May after the department began investigating him for allegedly altering crime data. Pulliam has denied the allegations.
This investigation, however, is expected to go much further, looking at other police and city officials for wrongdoing.
The Washington Post first reported that the Justice Department had launched a formal probe.
President Donald Trump made reference to the investigation in a post on social media Monday.
“D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety. This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do, and they are under serious investigation for so doing!” he wrote on Truth Social, while touting his effort to make the area safer by mobilizing federal law enforcement officers and the National Guard.
“Until 4 days ago, Washington, D.C., was the most unsafe ‘city’ in the United States, and perhaps the World. Now, in just a short period of time, it is perhaps the safest, and getting better every single hour!” he wrote.
It’s unclear at this point what the charges would be stemming from this investigation.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has pointed to D.C. police data indicating that violent crime has decreased 26% compared to last year to argue that Trump’s federal takeover of the department is unnecessary.
Neither the Justice Department nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office is commenting on the investigation.
