Betsy Smith, a spokesperson for the National Police Association, said on Newsmax on Tuesday that Washington, D.C.'s crime data is being manipulated and should be audited as part of President Donald Trump's 30-day takeover of the city's police force.
Sgt. Smith appeared on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE," following Trump's announcement that he would temporarily take control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy 800 National Guard troops to the city. The move has the liberal left-controlled city up in arms.
"Well, the left is going to continue to protest and act insane," Smith said. "Who would have thought that we'd see Democrats protesting against cleaning up crime, cleaning up cities and all that? And yet, that's exactly what we're seeing."
Smith said that in addition to stopping crime and punishing "aberrant behavior," Trump's team should investigate the accuracy of D.C.'s crime reports.
"Hopefully Pam Bondi's people can get into the DC Metro Police Department and do some analysis," she said. "Really take a look at the crime stats because it's common knowledge in Washington, D.C., that these crime statistics are cooked. Right now, they have an internal investigation against one of the high-level commanders who was caught doing this."
She added that the Department of Justice should "talk to the cops, talk to the detectives and find out what really happens" to help the department fix the problem "with this team effort that Trump talked about yesterday — prosecution, judges, all of this — instead of just this revolving door of quote, unquote justice in D.C."
Smith compared the capital's situation to other cities with Democrat leadership. "Let's look at my native Chicago. It's insane that they continue to elect these further and further to the left mayors, like Brandon Johnson, that we have now, Karen Bass in L.A. I could go on and on," she said.
"They are told that this is the only way they can continue their lifestyle. They are told that, you know, the man is keeping you down, and you must keep electing Democrats to keep your lifestyle the way it is."
Quoting Trump's earlier rhetoric, Smith said, "Chicago, what do you have to lose? Portland, what do you have to lose? Now he's taking a much stronger stance. D.C. is really the only police department that he can come in and take over. But this is going to be, I think, a blueprint for the rest of the country."
She added that she hopes the move might embolden some "blue city mayors and police chiefs" to address crime more aggressively.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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