The D.C. police department is losing officers to federal agencies in droves and is operating significantly below its 2023 peak of more than 4,000 officers, reported The Washington Post.
The department had just 3,144 officers on staff as of Feb. 25, a half-century low. The department is filling those gaps with overtime shifts, a costly option that drained more than $130 million from the city's budget in the last fiscal year.
"You have this hiring blitz going on where you have local jurisdictions competing with federal agencies," Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told the Post. "We have not seen this kind of competition in the market."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a major recruiting campaign last year that hired more than 12,000 officers in under 12 months, doubling the agency's workforce from about 10,000 to roughly 22,000.
From January to April 2025, the U.S. Border Patrol received 34,650 applications — 44% more than the year before — marking one of the biggest recruiting pushes in its history.
The U.S. Secret Service is trying to add 4,000 employees by 2028, increasing its staff by roughly 20% to prepare for events such as the presidential election cycle and the 2028 Olympics.
Federal agencies are also stepping up recruitment with aggressive incentives, offering signing bonuses that can reach $50,000 or more in an effort to fill thousands of law-enforcement vacancies.
The hiring push — particularly by agencies such as ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection — comes as federal authorities race to expand their ranks, a move local officials say is intensifying competition for officers already in short supply.
"It is increasingly difficult to compete against other jurisdictions and departments to recruit new members," interim D.C. Police Chief Jeffery W. Carroll told D.C. Council members at a Feb. 25 hearing. He added that the competitors' packages are "drawing not only recruits, but also MPD officers who resign."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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