A damning report from a Republican-led congressional committee has accused the police chief of Washington D.C. of pressuring her subordinates to manipulate official crime data, creating an artificially low picture of crime rates in the nation's capital.
Allegations of Pressure and Retaliation
The report, released on Sunday 14 December 2025 by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, states that Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith frequently threatened, punished, and retaliated against police commanders who presented her with accurate data showing spikes in crime. The findings are based partly on interviews with the commanders of all seven of the city's patrol districts and a former commander currently on leave.
According to the committee, commanders testified that Smith pushed for the more frequent use of "intermediate" criminal charges, which do not require public reporting, instead of more serious charges that must be logged in official statistics. "These combined efforts, as explained by commanders, amounted to manipulating MPD crime statistics in an effort to show lowered rates of crime to the public," the report concludes.
Parallel Investigation and Political Fallout
A separate investigation by the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump, corroborated concerns over data integrity. Pirro's office reviewed nearly 6,000 police reports and interviewed over 50 witnesses, finding that a "significant number of reports had been misclassified, making crime appear artificially lower than it was." Pirro stated this manipulation meant President Trump had actually reduced crime more than originally reported.
Neither investigation found grounds for criminal charges. However, Pirro noted on Monday 15 December that it was incumbent upon the MPD to address the underlying issues internally.
The political context is significant. Pirro's probe began in August 2025 during a major showdown between the Trump administration and the city over control of the police department. Trump had cited worsening violent crime as a rationale for ordering a federal takeover.
Defence and Counter-Accusations
Chief Smith, who is stepping down at the end of 2025 after two years leading the department, has vehemently denied the allegations. In an interview with Fox 5 earlier in December, she stated, "I have never and will never authorize or even support any thought processes or activities with regards to crime numbers being manipulated."
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, defended Smith's performance on Monday. She accused the House committee's leaders of rushing to judgement "in order to serve a politically motivated timeline." Bowser emphasised her expectation that published crime statistics be accurate and of the highest quality.
The mayor also challenged the report's methodology, pointing out that of the 22 critical block quotes about Smith's management style presented, 20 came from just two command officials. She highlighted independent data showing positive trends, including a 31% drop in homicides in 2025 compared to 2024, and a 33% reduction in firearm injuries for the first ten months of the year.
Committee Chairman, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, remained steadfast, asserting that Smith "cultivated a culture of fear to achieve her agenda" and that the public had been deliberately kept in the dark about the true state of crime in the capital.
