Trump’s unprecedented takeover of DC police comes as crime is down, figures show

Jillian Snider, a retired New York Police Department officer, began working at a think tank in downtown Washington, D.C., four years ago. Back then, at the height of the pandemic, the area had a very different feel.

“You couldn’t walk down 14th Street or 16th Street near the White House without seeing a lot of disorder, a lot of homeless encampments,” Snider recalled. “Today, it’s much cleaner. You feel much safer.”

Snider is among a half-dozen policing and military experts who told NBC News they were perplexed by President Donald Trump’s unprecedented decision to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and order the National Guard to help fight crime in Washington, D.C.

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Snider, the retired NYPD officer, said local police agencies are far better equipped to address local crime than federal agencies or the National Guard.

“They know the players. They know the streets. They know where the violence occurs,” said Snider, who is an adjunct lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and a policy director of criminal justice and civil liberties at the R Street Institute, a think tank in D.C.

“Any aid from federal agents or the National Guard should be supportive measures,” Snider added. “They shouldn’t be coming in and taking over local policing.”