Michael Alcazar joins to discuss President Donald Trump's efforts to address crime in Washington, D.C. and the reaction from Democrats.

Washington

Federal authorities have launched an investigation into whether Washington, D.C. police manipulated crime data to make statistics appear lower, following allegations from the police union. Since federal law enforcement began assisting local police, there have been over 465 arrests and a significant number of firearms seized, with reported drops in robbery, carjacking, and violent crime rates.

Democratic leaders, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, have criticized the federal intervention and compared it to historical authoritarian actions, while also facing scrutiny over crime in their own states. Some law enforcement representatives suggest that police welcome federal assistance due to ongoing challenges, and question the reluctance of some city administrations to acknowledge crime issues.

Democratic leaders downplay Trump's crime concerns

Michael Alcazar. Michael, your thoughts right off the top on this? I'm not surprised that the pressure is on with the executives in the police department to manipulate these crime stats because, you know, it is an incentive for them to get promoted, to drive crime down. They're working with less and they'll have to produce. So I'm not shocked when the chairman of the police union makes these allegations. Let's take a look at the numbers if we can. More than 465 arrests and counting. We know almost 60 guns taken off the street since the feds moved into Washington. The DOJ is now looking for answers, saying the agency is launching an investigation into whether D.C. police manipulated data to make crime stats appear lower. We know that just last month the D.C. police commander, as we mentioned coming into you, was put on leave. Is this customary that crime stats, in your experience, would be manipulated by the people, the boots on the ground? Well, it's not. I wouldn't say it's manipulated by the police officers, right? It's manipulated by the supervisors, by the executive staff. The police officers are there taking the reports, documenting it. And then we have units in police agencies that are dealing with the crime stats and they get pressure from their bosses, their captains and above, that say, you know, reclassify that crime, downgrade that. That's not a burglary. That's going to be pettit larceny. So this is pretty common in many, many police agencies. I think Americans would find that somewhat surprising, but Democrats are just not missing Trump's claims that there's crime and violence in our nation's capital and other cities as well. You have Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker comparing Trump's D.C. takeover to Nazi Germany yesterday. Listen to this. The man was first elected. I have talked about the fact that the Nazis in Germany in the 30s tore down a constitutional republic in just 53 days. It does not take much, frankly, and we have a president who seems hell bent on doing just that. And then you have the stats we showed just a moment ago. Since the federal takeover in D.C., robbery is down 46 percent, carjacking down 83 percent. I think we have those numbers. Violent crime down 22 percent. This is just the first week or so. Your thoughts on that? Well, what's happening here is the complement of the federal law enforcement helping out the metropolitan police is an added omnipresence, right? Criminals have been comfortable just doing their underground economy, doing their business because the police are short-handed. And when they injected these federal troops, it put them on notice. And they're saying crime is down, but yet they made like over 60 gun arrests, almost 500 arrests while they were there. So it shows that there is crime. And it would seem that perhaps that statistics were being manipulated to make it look like the city is safer than it is. So you heard from the Illinois governor just moments ago. Let's talk about the numbers in that city, 25 people. This is just over the weekend, 25 people shot, three fatally over this past weekend in Chicago, the best performance since at least 2015. So you have J.B. Pritzker coming out, talking about the crackdown of crime in Washington. Sounds like he might want to take care of one of his own major cities first before he opens his mouth. A hundred percent. A lot of these Democrat-run states, they need the help. They don't want to accept the help because if they say that there's a problem in their cities, they're showing, they're proving that their administration is failing. That's why they're saying they don't want the help. And I think that's the problem right there. Your thoughts on federalizing D.C. in general and cleaning it up there overall, and then perhaps taking that roadmap and taking it to other cities? I think most police officers will welcome the help, right? It's something that they need. Police have been handcuffed for several years now since the pandemic, and they welcome the assistance from the president. It's something that they need and they desire. Former NYPD Detective Michael Alcazar, thanks so much for jumping on today and sharing your perspective, as always. Thank you.

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Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

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Global Tariffs

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Brussels

Ukraine Invasion

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North Carolina

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New Delhi

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Austin

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Toronto

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Hong Kong Island

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East Coast of the United States

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Los Angeles

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La Paz

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Kyiv

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Paris

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

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