Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday credited the two-week-old federal law-enforcement surge ordered by President Donald Trump with sharply reducing crime in the nation’s capital. Speaking alongside police commanders, Bowser said auto thefts—including a spate of armed carjackings that plagued the city last year—have fallen 87 percent compared with the same period in 2024. Overall reported crime is down about 15 percent and violent offenses roughly 30 percent since the Metropolitan Police Department was temporarily placed under federal control on Aug. 7, she added. Federal officials have arrested more than 1,200 suspects during the 30-day operation, which also brought National Guard troops and agents from the FBI, ATF and other agencies onto city streets. The District recorded its first homicide in nearly two weeks on Tuesday, a drop that Bowser linked to increased gun seizures and traffic stops conducted by the joint task force. Bowser—who had initially opposed the takeover—said the extra officers have made neighborhoods "feel safer," even as she urged the White House to restore local command once the emergency order lapses early next month. Several members of the D.C. Council continue to criticize the move, and civil-liberties groups object to President Trump’s threat to seek capital punishment for murders committed during the federal period. Public opinion has so far tilted in the administration’s favor. A Harvard CAPS/Harris survey released this week found 54 percent of U.S. voters support the crackdown, and an AP-NORC poll showed 81 percent view big-city crime as a major problem. The White House has not said whether it will seek congressional approval to extend the operation beyond September, but aides signaled the president may replicate the model in other cities if crime statistics continue to improve.