Troll-E-Trolls R Us

Welcome to DC, like many other cities, the police are leaving faster than new officers can be hired to replace them. And even more tempting In DC, there’s plenty of opportunity for police officers to go to Federal agencies without leaving the city.

Good article here (https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/03/16/police-staffing-dc-low/) except the writer missed the punchline: How about police want to work for federal government instead of DC because federal government lets them police and enforce the law? On the other hand, the DC government is more concerned avoiding the bad optics of enforcing the law by(drumroll please)…by making it harder for police to enforce the law. How about a few examples? Actually, how about a lot of examples? Read on…

First, the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 restricted DC police pursue people except for cases involving a crime of violence or an immediate threat of serious injury. And how did that turn out? Let’s see:

• DC Police Union issued a press release in 2025 calling the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Act “The most detrimental piece of public safety legislation in the city’s history, causing record crime rates and an exodus of qualified personnel” and called for its immediate repeal.
• Fake Tag Loophole: Police were barred from chasing vehicles with counterfeit temporary tags, even though those often being linked to stolen cars. Ok, future criminals, another great trick for you…just use fake plates and the police can’t get you. Yeah for DC Laws!  (https://www.nicb.org/news/news-releases/nicb-pushes-dc-lawmakers-crack-down-fake-vehicle-tags)
• Scooter Fatality Prosecution: This one is pretty crazy, a DC police officer was thrown in jail for 5 and half years for chasing a guy on a scooter who was evading the police, crashed, and got himself killed.(https://apnews.com/article/terence-sutton-andrew-zabavsky-police-chase-d6c27391798b8b8f57af5b4bc8cbf984)

Yeah, it’s really hard to imagine why police would prefer to work anywhere else. But wait, there’s more. Let’s not forget about the Youth Rehabilitation Act which required courts to treated anyone up to age 24 as “youth,” meaning in lighter sentences and sealed records. And how did that one turn out? Not too hard to guess:

• In DC Carjacking Surge of 2024, “juveniles” made up 60% of carjacking arrests. Many were released within 24–48 hours due to detention standards. (https://dcwitness.org/carjackers-are-a-real-threat-but-data-shows-relatively-few-are-convicted/)
• The 200 Repeaters (2024): Nearly 200 “juveniles” arrested for violent crimes had prior violent-crime arrests, but could not be detained pre‑trial.(The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 | Majority Leader)

And if these new laws weren’t enough, the DC government and police leadership imposed even more restrictions.

• Consent Search Restrictions: Officers had to read a “right to refuse” statement (MPD General Order 304.10), leading to a collapse in consent-based searches and “passive patrolling” by police to disincentivized by low value-add paperwork or potential litigation.
• Environment of Retribution by DC Police Chief Pamela A. Smith utilizing fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation—conditions that contributed directly to declining morale and the loss of experienced officers and commanders.(https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-bombshell-report-revealing-d-c-s-police-chief-deliberately-manipulated-crime-data/)

While some of these laws and directives may have been well-intentioned, they clearly had the wrong effect. While there are multiple attempts to roll these laws and directives back (mostly at the Federal level), the damage to the DC police’s ability to enforce laws not too mention their morale has been done:

• DC CRIMES Act (H.R. 4922, 2025) lowered the youth age to 18 and removed the D.C. Council’s authority to modify sentencing rules
• District of Columbia Policing Protection Act (H.R. 5143, 2025) moved to repeal pursuit restrictions.
• Order No. 6370-2025 and Order No. 6372-2025 put DC police under federal control and direction
• Mayor Bowser’s Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center (SBEOC) to coordinate with Federal law enforcement

However, this all seems too little too late. And you see the result. Police leaving for better opportunities…and making everyone a little less safe in DC.