WASHINGTON (AP) — A pair of senior Washington, D.C., police commanders acknowledged Tuesday that the ongoing federal law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital is alienating the population and damaging community relationships that will have to be mended in the future.
“What relationships do we have to repair once this surge is over? I’m prepared to do that. I’m prepared to have those long, tough conversations. But I know it’s going to be tough,” said Sixth District Commander Jaron Hickman. “We are getting some violent people off the streets — but in the long run, at what cost?”
Elsewhere in the city, students started to settle into the start of a new school year, which was shadowed by anxieties over increased immigration enforcement. Volunteers in some neighborhoods helped walk children to school as social media was abuzz with reports of sightings of federal officers.
Hickman and Seventh District Commander James Boteler spoke Tuesday before about 50 citizens at a meeting of the Anacostia Community Council. The appearance had been scheduled well before President Donald Trump took over the Metropolitan Police Department and flooded the capital with federal law enforcement agents and National Guard troops.
D.C.’s police department faces a complex situation
The ongoing consequences of President Donald Trump’s surge dominated the commanders’ 45-minute Q&A session. Both commanders deferred on some of the more pointed questions asked by the audience. But both also offered revealing glimpses into the complexity of the situation faced by the police department.
“I have my own feelings but I’m also non-partisan. I have to come to work every day regardless of who’s sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” Boteler said. “I know Chief Pamela Smith and her entire executive staff is keenly aware of what people are feeling in the community. Because we’re talking about it every single day.”
Hickman said he wrote a mass email to the 302 officers under his command when Trump first launched his takeover of the department earlier this month. His message: “You have morals. We have policies. If you see something that doesn’t feel right, you should be speaking up.”
Yet Hickman said it was discouraging to see some checkpoints and arrests that he felt were unnecessary.
“It’s disheartening as a district commander, I can’t get out of my car off-duty and say ‘Man, you guys aren’t needed here,’” he said. “I don’t know if that provides you with any comfort. I’m just being honest with you.”
Visitors’ reactions to Guard presence are mixed
A few miles away near the Washington Monument, visitors had mixed reactions to the National Guard troops who have become a regular presence around the National Mall. Some troops now carry firearms following a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Maine resident Patricia Sylvester carried a sign that read “What do you stand for?” as National Guard troops milled nearby.
“My feeling is that it’s an occupation, and that it is not about crime,” Sylvester said. “I think it’s a power move. I’ve said to them, because I talked to the National Guard, I’ve said, ‘This doesn’t make me feel safer.’”
Dan Gehrke, visiting from Wisconsin with his wife and children, said the troops were a welcome presence.
“You can see different cities all over the United States that are having problems,” Gehrke said. “And I think that anything that we can do to make the cities of the United State safer is better.”
Some of the District’s schools appeared to be trying to make it as normal as possible on the second day of classes. Outside one elementary school, staff greeted children with upbeat music and escorted them from school buses into the building. At some other schools, neighbors organized demonstrations to show support for immigrant families.
It was too soon to know whether the law enforcement surge had led to a significant decrease in attendance as some have feared. The school district did not provide attendance data but said it is sharing safety guidance for students “as they commute to and from their school campuses this week and beyond.”
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Associated Press journalist Mike Pesoli contributed reporting.
