Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., bailed out Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith Tuesday after Smith was unable to answer a simple question during a press conference.
President Donald Trump announced the deployment of the National Guard and declared a federal takeover of MPD to combat crime in the district Monday, days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker “Big Balls,” was severely injured when he intervened to prevent a carjacking. Reporters were asking questions of Smith and Bowser during an event when a reporter asked about who the MPD would answer to.
“I won’t go into the details or the devils of our operation at this point. You will see metropolitan police department working side-by-side with our federal partners in order to enforce the efforts that we need around the city,” Smith told reporters, one of whom asked, “Can you tell us what the chain of command is now?”
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“What does that mean?” an apparently confused Smith asked, with the reporter saying, “Well is it [Attorney General] Pam Bondi speaking to the mayor or to you? How does this work?”
The DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines “chain of command” as “The succession of commanding officers from a superior to a subordinate through which command is exercised.” Bowser stepped in after Smith, a former chief of the United States Park Police and Chief Equity Officer for the MPD, according to her official biography, struggled with the reporter’s question.
“The executive order is clear. The president has requested MPD services and our home rule charter outlines the process,” Bowser said. “The president designated Attorney General Bondi as his proxy to request services from me.”
Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, was fatally shot on June 30 in the district. Also, two employees of the Israeli Embassy were killed in a May shooting allegedly carried out by a pro-Hamas activist, while Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment in February 2023.
Despite claims from Democrats that violent crime has declined by roughly one-third, MPD data on such incidents reportedly excludes cases of aggravated assault and felony assault, even though Washington laws characterize those offenses as violent. A high-ranking MPD official, Michael Pulliam, was suspended over allegations regarding the manipulation of crime data, NBC Washington reported.
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