The US Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department falsified crime statistics to make the city appear safer, according to reports from the Associated Press, NBC News and the Washington Post. The probe, disclosed on 19 Aug 2025, is being run out of the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, two people familiar with the matter said. Federal investigators are examining claims that senior police officials downgraded or reclassified serious offenses. MPD Commander Michael Pulliam was placed on paid leave in May after the city’s police union accused him of altering data; Pulliam has denied wrongdoing. The union says officers were routinely told to record robberies as thefts or shootings as “injured-person” incidents, inflating the department’s touted 35 percent drop in violent crime last year. The inquiry deepens an escalating confrontation between the Trump administration and the District’s Democratic leadership. President Donald Trump on 11 Aug invoked emergency powers to federalize the MPD for 30 days, deploy National Guard troops and coordinate a multi-agency task force. Since the operation began on 7 Aug, the White House says more than 550 people have been arrested and 76 illegal firearms seized, including 52 arrests on the night of 18 Aug. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who previously highlighted falling crime, has not commented on the federal probe but has criticized the takeover as an infringement on the city’s autonomy. Justice Department officials have not specified potential charges or a timeline for the investigation.