As I understand it, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department is authorized and funded to employ 4000 officers, but it is 800 officers short because there have not been sufficient qualified candidates to fill the empty spaces. I also understand that this is a national problem, not a DC problem alone.

Because of this shortfall, the idea of additional law enforcement personnel coming as part of the federal takeover is welcomed by the police and in particular by the police union. I would bet, however, that this is not because they think this is going to significantly decrease crime, but because it will take the pressure off them to work double shifts, excessive overtime, and the like. And for all of us, this is important. Our police will do a better job if they have less pressure, have time just to kick back, and can get a full night’s sleep.

That is the first point I want to make. The counterpoint, of course, is that those being brought in by the federal government are untrained to do police work. You don’t simply get hired by MPD and be given a badge. You undergo a full course of instruction at the Police Academy, and you have to pass that course. There are not only physical requirements, but there are many intellectual requirements, such as knowing DC laws, knowing police protocols, and knowing how to deal with all sorts of people. That does come easily or quickly. The federal newbies will make mistakes. The residents of the District will suffer because of them.

To complicate matters, policing in DC is more complicated than in other locations throughout the country. Not that crime is more prevalent, but because the city is home not only to the MPD, but to numerous other police forces, some of which are, in fact, federal. There are the Capitol Police, the Park Police, the Secret Service, and, according to ChatGPT, 23 other federal uniformed police forces. ChatGPT also lists 11 uniformed locally run police forces, and 8 university police forces. And, of course, this does not include the police forces found in the many suburban jurisdictions making up the Washington metropolitan area. All this must be coordinated.

And none of this includes the National Guard being activated, nor the FBI and ICE officers, all untrained in police activity. The National Guard, I would guess, will not be expected to do much, and are there mostly for show or to help in administrative tasks. And that is wrong on so many levels.

We don’t how all this will work out on the ground. Or who will be calling the shots. We don’t even know who will be keeping the statistics.

As a DC resident, I have my own ideas as to what we will see over the next 30 days. I think we will see arrests. How else can success be measured?

To be a little more definitive, I expect arrests of persons deemed engaged in criminal activity at any level, homeless individuals of all ages, perceived non-citizens without appropriate paper work, people without any guilt or suspicion of guilt who are deemed simply to be talking back to officials and who will quickly be deemed as resisting arrest. I expect these people, once picked up, may be transported to far away places ((they would overwhelm local facilities) to undisclosed locations, to be treated poorly, not allowed counsel, and so forth. The pattern set generally by ICE will become the norm. And it will happen quickly.

Will crime go down? Maybe. In fascist and other forms of authoritarian countries, crime can be non-existent. Pull the tongues out of the mouths of a few jaywalkers, and jaywalking will become a thing of the past.

Yes, we can have a perfectly safe and clean capital city. I can point out one to you that functions very well today, and just might be Donald’s model.

The name of the city is Pyongyang.

The president’s action is only good for 30 days. So, 27 to go. From what I hear, there shouldn’t be 60 Senate votes to extend it. I can already hear the “Dems are soft on crime” chant.

SPOILER ALERT: the answer to 10-down in this morning’s NYT puzzle is “bigmess”. The definition could be “what Donald Trump is creating in the District of Columbia”.