Washington, D.C.’s police department is reportedly trying to fire multiple officers that they claim were involved in the manipulation of crime statistics to downplay the nation’s capital’s violent crime problem.
Assistant Chief LaShay Makal and Second District Commander Tatjana Savoy were placed on administrative leave due to a possible connection with crime statistics investigations led by the city, the Department of Justice, and Republicans in Congress, the Washington Post reported.
Former Third District commander Michael Pulliam, who was previously placed on administrative leave over the crime statistics issue, also faces termination, the outlet reported.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was accused of misclassifying crime or changing crime classifications to reduce the city’s violent crime rates.The city’s allegedly artificially lowered crime rates were used to argue against President Donald Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard to help make the city safer.
The Daily Caller exclusively reported in October 2025 how D.C. police were manipulating data. Sources told the Caller that directives to reduce crime numbers were “pervasive from the top, all the way down.” One method was that responding officers were required to call supervisors on scene to be able to charge someone with a violent crime, the sources said. Officers were sometimes berated in front of their colleagues when violent crime numbers in their area were considered too high, they explained.
However, the wave of actions ostensibly taken against crime statistics manipulation Tuesday may be little more than CYA, a source familiar told the Caller …
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Commander Pulliam, the source said, was “literally the only police official in DC that actually cared about solving crime.”
“Chief Smith used the stats as a pretense to terminate [Commander Pulliam],” the source explained. “As I understand it, a complete power move by Smith to shut down dissent in the ranks. [Pulliam had] risen incredibly quickly on leading successful proactive policing initiatives as Captain and Inspector.”
The source added, “Unfortunately the union just wants scalps so they’re cheering everything even if it’s a whitewash.”
Smith also reassigned Captain Rachel Pulliam, Commander Pulliam’s wife, from the Youth Division to a midnight shift last April.
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