What does federal police in DC look like?

(NewsNation) — The Trump administration said it is mobilizing a federal law enforcement presence to patrol Washington, D.C., for seven days and added the timeline could be extended. 

The plan increases federal law enforcement officers across the district, the White House said.  

Federal officers have been tasked to monitor D.C.’s sanctuary city status, assist the city’s forensic crime laboratory and help process concealed carry license requests, among other things.

The White House declined to provide a number of how many additional federal law enforcement officers will be deployed or their locations, citing safety concerns.

The increased federal law enforcement presence in D.C. is going to be primarily at night because that is when crime is more prevalent, an administration official told NewsNation.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office had no comment when asked for reaction to the White House move. 

Trump signed the “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” executive order in March, which directs federal authorities to step in and potentially federalize the city. 

The executive order established a task force called the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” which is chaired by the assistant to the president and homeland security adviser. 

The task force has been working in conjunction with the Metro Transit Police, Amtrak police, the Metro Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the White House said. 

“The president is very clear that he's going to take action necessary to secure the city of Washington for people who live here, for all the American people, and all who visit here,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller told NewsNation. “Our capital city is more violent than Baghdad. It is more violent than parts of Ethiopia, parts of many of the most dangerous places in the world.”

While the president has vowed to tackle the city’s crime, data shows that crime has been down in D.C. 

Violent crime decreased by 26% year to date versus 35% in 2024 and 2023, according to Metro Police Department data. 

Carjackings were down 36% from the same time last year. 

The swift move by the administration comes days after two teens were arrested in the city in connection with the attempted carjacking and beating of one of the most prominent members of the Department of Government Efficiency. 

Edward Coristine was assaulted around 3 a.m. Sunday by a group of teenagers attempting to carjack him and a woman whom police identified as his significant other.

The attack gave new fuel to long-standing Republican efforts to challenge Washington’s autonomy, with Trump threatening to bypass local authority and impose direct federal control over the city.