They typically investigate drug lords, weapons traffickers or cyber criminals. This week, though, federal agents are fanning out across the nation's capital as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to clamp down on crime in the city.
The sometimes-masked agents joined members of the National Guard as well as the United States Park Police, whose responsibilities include protecting the country's monuments and managing crowds during demonstrations.
Soldiers in fatigues kept watch near Union Station, while officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration patrolled along the National Mall. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped question a couple in northwest Washington who were parked illegally and eating McDonald’s takeout.
Trump said Monday that he’s taking over Washington’s police department in hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed that crime is already falling. The District of Columbia’s status as a congressionally established federal district allows the president to take control, although he’s limited to 30 days under statute unless he gets approval from Congress.
Amid the takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, or MPD, here's a list of some of the federal agencies involved and what they typically do:
The National Guard
THIS WEEK: The Pentagon said that 800 Guard members have been activated for missions in Washington that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the troops won’t be armed and declined to give more details on what the safety patrols or beautification efforts would entail. The White House said Thursday that Guard members aren’t making arrests but are “protecting federal assets, providing a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deterring violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence.”
THE BACKSTORY: The National Guard serves as the primary combat reserve of the Army and Air Force, according to its website. But it also responds when “disaster strikes in the homeland” to protect life and property in communities.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
THIS WEEK: DEA agents have also fanned out across Washington, working with police on traffic stops and other enforcement efforts. The agency has touted this week that its agents have helped to recover guns and drugs.
THE BACKSTORY: The agency typically enforces the nation’s controlled substances laws and regulations, while going after drug cartels, gangs and traffickers in the U.S. and abroad. For example, a DEA-led investigation scored a record seizure of fentanyl in May, “dismantling one of the largest and most dangerous drug trafficking organizations in U.S. history,” the agency said in a news release. The DEA also operates a little-known research lab in northern Virginia that’s working to analyze seized narcotics to find ways to stop the supply. Its chemists identify the ever-evolving tactics employed by cartels to manufacture drugs flowing into the U.S.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
THIS WEEK: Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, could be seen on Wednesday alongside MPD officers as they conducted traffic checks at a checkpoint along 14th Street in northwest Washington.
THE BACKSTORY: HSI investigates a wide variety of crimes on a global scale – at home, abroad and online – with hundreds of offices across the country and abroad. Those crimes include “illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States,” the agency says on its website. In the last few months, as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts across the U.S., HSI agents have been out on raids and involved in immigration arrests at courthouses and other sites around the country. HSI agents also investigate a vast array of crime, including cyber and financial crimes and intellectual property offenses.
United States Park Police
THIS WEEK: United States Park Police have been seen helping with traffic stops this week in the district and are a regular presence in Washington. D.C. The federal agency is actually one of the nation's oldest, being founded in 1791 by George Washington.
THE BACKSTORY: The police are part of the National Park Service and has jurisdiction in all federal parks, with offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco, according to the agency's website. Before this week's takeover, it already had the authority to make an arrest in the District of Columbia.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
THIS WEEK: ATF agents have been helping out with traffic stops.
THE BACKSTORY: The agency primarily focuses on the illegal use of guns and explosives, bombings and acts of terrorism, and the trafficking of illicit liquor or contraband tobacco.
Ben Finley, The Associated Press
