DC police chief resigns amid Trump pressure and crime data manipulation probe

Washington, D.C., constabulary main Pamela Smith is resigning her presumption aft conscionable 2 and a fractional years connected the job, she announced Monday.

Smith has faced aggravated unit from President Donald Trump's administration, which took implicit the Metropolitan Police Department earlier this twelvemonth and deployed national instrumentality enforcement passim the city.

"There comes a clip erstwhile you conscionable cognize it's time," Smith told Axios, which archetypal reported her resignation.

"I americium profoundly humbled, grateful, and profoundly appreciative of my clip with the District of Columbia. Serving arsenic Chief of Police has been the top grant of my career, and I privation to widen my sincere acknowledgment to Mayor Muriel Bowser for appointing me to this presumption and to the DC Council for their steadfast enactment passim my tenure," she said successful a statement.

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District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith, left, announced her plans to resign connected Monday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Bowser praised Smith's enactment arsenic constabulary main successful her ain connection connected Monday, saying she weathered "attacks connected our city's autonomy."

Smith has faced disapproval from immoderate D.C. residents who assertion she has allowed MPD officers to assistance national agents successful migration enforcement, a assertion she denies.

"We are not aligned with ICE. We bash not, and person not since the transgression emergency, worked alongside ICE," Smith told Axios. "[Social media] videos lend 1 facet of what you see. If they amusement up, they amusement up. They're national officers."

Smith has besides faced contention wrong her ain department, with galore rank-and-file officers accusing higher-ups of reclassifying crimes to marque the city's transgression information look much benign.

As of October, astir 3 twelve rank-and-file officers and detectives had lodged complaints with the Justice Department, arsenic the metropolis faces an probe into whether transgression statistic were intentionally misreported nether the Trump administration.

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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, joined by Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, speaks astatine a property league astatine the U.S. Attorney’s Office successful Washington, D.C., connected Sept. 5. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

According to officers, MPD enactment had for months — and successful immoderate cases years — instructed subordinates to downgrade superior offenses. Some precinct-level reports are said to person contained arsenic galore arsenic 150 perchance misclassified incidents successful the Southeast D.C. Seventh District alone. In astir fractional of those cases, supervisors aboriginal upgraded the charges.

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"I arsenic the main of constabulary never, would ever accidental to anyone to change stats," Smith said Monday.

While metropolis leaders and Democrats constituent to information showing convulsive transgression is astatine a 30-year low, the DOJ and House Oversight Committee are probing whether those numbers are being masked by interior manipulation.

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The DOJ’s transgression probe is being tally retired of D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office.

Fox News' David Spector contributed to this report.