President Donald Trump’s emergency takeover of Washington’s police force has entered its third week, with the city now patrolled by roughly 2,000 National Guard troops as well as federal agents. The Metropolitan Police Department was placed under federal command on 11 August for up to 30 days under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. Attorney General Pam Bondi said 719 people have been arrested and 91 illegal firearms recovered since the operation began. The U.S. Marshals Service is paying residents up to $500 for information that leads to additional arrests. City officials also report no homicides in the capital between 13 and 20 August—the first murder-free week in at least a year—while internal data show violent crime down 22 percent, carjackings 83 percent, robberies 46 percent and car thefts 21 percent compared with the week before the deployment. The Pentagon has authorised National Guard personnel to carry their service weapons, a step Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said was needed to protect troops and support law-enforcement partners, though guardsmen will still hand suspects over to police rather than make formal arrests. From the Oval Office on 22 August, Trump warned Mayor Muriel Bowser that he could impose a “complete and total federal takeover” if city officials do not correct what he called “false” crime statistics. The Justice Department is already investigating allegations that Washington police misclassified violent incidents to understate crime levels. Trump, calling the D.C. results “a miracle,” said Chicago will “probably” be the next city to receive a National Guard surge, with New York also under consideration. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker condemned the idea as an unlawful, uncoordinated use of military force, noting that Chicago homicides have fallen 30 percent so far this year.