President Donald Trump singed an executive order Thursday that seeks to make the nation’s capital city, Washington, D.C., safer.
According to the Washington Examiner, the executive order establishes a task force, the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force that will surge law enforcement officers in public areas and strictly enforce quality-of-life laws in public areas such as drug use, unpermitted demonstrations, vandalism, and public intoxication.
“Our nation’s capital, the only city that belongs to all of us, must be a symbol of pride for the American people and a safe location for public servants to do the people’s work,” the executive order reads. “Today, because of failed policies, it’s not.”
The task force will also maximize immigration enforcement to apprehend and deport dangerous illegal aliens, help Washington D.C.’s forensic crime laboratory get accreditation, provide assistance to the D.C. Police Department, keep dangerous criminals off the streets, and expedite concealed carry licenses for law-abiding citizens.
“Crime is near historic highs, yet D.C. police force numbers recently reached a half-century low,” the executive order says. “The vacuum in law enforcement has created an environment that facilitates crime and blight, encourages homeless and vagrancy encampments, and jeopardizes public safety.”
The order will also work to restore and “beautify” Washington D.C, including working on federal buildings, monuments, statues, memorials, parks, and roadways. The National Park Service has been tasked with clearing out homeless camps and graffiti.
Trump promised to “take over the horribly run capital of our nation, Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so that it is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime, but rather it will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world.”
The executive order noted that the city must be a symbol of pride.
“Our nation’s capital, the only city that belongs to all of us, must be a symbol of pride for the American people and a safe location for public servants to do the people’s work,” the executive order reads. “Today, because of failed policies, it’s not.”
