Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia

Executive Order 14333 of August 11, 2025

Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of
Columbia

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including section 740 of the District of
Columbia Self-Government and Governmental
Reorganization Act (Public Law 93-198), as amended
(section 740 of the Home Rule Act), and section 301 of
title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Crime is out of control in the District of
Columbia. Washington, District of Columbia, is our
Nation's capital and home to the central institutions
of American governance. Yet rising violence in the
capital now urgently endangers public servants,
citizens, and tourists, disrupts safe and secure
transportation and the proper functioning of the
Federal Government, and forces the diversion of
critical public resources toward emergency response and
security measures. The city government's failure to
maintain public order and safety has had a dire impact
on the Federal Government's ability to operate
efficiently to address the Nation's broader interests
without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant
violence.

The increase in violent crime in the heart of our
Republic has consequences beyond the individual
tragedies that have dominated media coverage. Such
lawlessness also poses intolerable risks to the vital
Federal functions that take place in the District of
Columbia. Violence and crime hamper the recruitment and
retention of essential Federal employees, undermine
critical functions of Government and thus the well-
being of the entire Nation, and erode confidence in the
strength of the United States. These conditions are
disgraceful anywhere, but particularly in the capital
of our Nation and the seat of the Federal Government.
Citizens, tourists, and Federal workers deserve peace
and security, not fear and violence. The smooth
functioning of executive departments and agencies,
courts, diplomatic missions, and the Federal Government
demands an effective law-enforcement mechanism capable
of halting the precipitous rise in violent crime, not
one that permits Government workers to be violently
attacked by mobs or fatally shot close to the Federal
buildings where they work.

The magnitude of the violent crime crisis places the
District of Columbia among the most violent
jurisdictions in the United States. In 2024, the
District of Columbia averaged one of the highest
robbery and murder rates of large cities nationwide.
Indeed, the District of Columbia now has a higher
violent crime, murder, and robbery rate than all 50
States, recording a homicide rate in 2024 of 27.54 per
100,000 residents. It also experienced the Nation's
highest vehicle theft rate with 842.4 thefts per
100,000 residents--over three times the national
average of 250.2 thefts per 100,000 residents. The
District of Columbia is, by some measures, among the
top 20 percent of the most dangerous cities in the
world.

As President, I have a solemn duty to take care that
our laws are faithfully executed, and a sacred
responsibility to protect the safety and security of
United States citizens who live in and visit our
Nation's capital, including Federal workers who live or
commute into the District of Columbia. These conditions
cannot persist. We will make the District of Columbia
one of the safest cities in the world, not the most
dangerous.

Sec. 2. Services of the Metropolitan Police Department
of the District of Columbia. I determine that special
conditions of an emergency nature exist that require
the use of the Metropolitan Police Department of the
District

of Columbia (Metropolitan Police force) for Federal
purposes, including maintaining law and order in the
Nation's seat of Government; protecting Federal
buildings, national monuments, and other Federal
property; and ensuring conditions necessary for the
orderly functioning of the Federal Government.
Effective immediately, the Mayor of the District of
Columbia (Mayor) shall provide the services of the
Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes for the
maximum period permitted under section 740 of the Home
Rule Act.

Sec. 3. Operational Control of the Metropolitan Police
Department of the District of Columbia. (a) The
authority of the President conferred by section 740(a)
of the Home Rule Act to direct the Mayor with respect
to the current special conditions of an emergency
nature is delegated to the Attorney General.

    (b) In accordance with section 740(a) of the Home
Rule Act, the Mayor shall provide such services of the
Metropolitan Police force as the Attorney General may
deem necessary and appropriate.

Sec. 4. Monitoring and Recommendations. (a) The
Attorney General shall monitor and regularly consult
with any senior official the Attorney General deems
appropriate on the special conditions of an emergency
nature that exist in the District of Columbia that
require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for
Federal purposes.

    (b) The Attorney General shall regularly update me
on the status of the special conditions of an emergency
nature that exist in the District of Columbia that
require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for
Federal purposes.
    (c) The Attorney General shall inform me of any
circumstances that, in the Attorney General's opinion,
might indicate the need for further action by the
President or that the action in this order is no longer
necessary.

Sec. 5. Severability. If any provision of this order,
or the application of any provision to any individual
or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder
of this order and the application of its other
provisions to any other individuals or circumstances
shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (d) The costs for publication of this order shall
be borne by the Department of Justice.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    August 11, 2025.