Members of a U.S. House committee have sharply criticized Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith, accusing her of overseeing the manipulation of crime data to make Washington, DC appear safer than it is. The allegations are laid out in an interim report released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, marking the second federal rebuke of the chief in just two days.
The report claims Smith directed commanders to downgrade crime classifications, reducing the number of serious offenses reflected in publicly reported statistics. According to the committee, the goal was to create the impression that crime in the nation’s capital was declining, even when internal data suggested otherwise.
Smith has faced mounting scrutiny over crime statistics for months. Last week, she announced she would step down from her role at the end of the year, denying that her resignation was connected to the investigations. She has also rejected the committee’s findings and allegations.
The House report, titled “Leadership Breakdown: How DC’s Police Chief Undermined Crime Data Accuracy,” builds in part on earlier reporting by News4’s Paul Wagner, who detailed claims of data manipulation over the summer. The committee’s findings are based on interviews with DC police commanders who described sustained pressure from leadership to lower crime classifications.
According to the report, testimony from those commanders “[…] paints a troubling picture of department leadership, placing a higher priority on suppressing public reporting of crime statistics than stopping crime itself.” The committee said Smith was particularly focused on the department’s daily crime report, which tracks nine felony categories that are publicly released.
The report states that Smith “[…] was so preoccupied with the statistics of the select crimes that were made public that she incentivized her subordinates to lower those crimes by whatever means necessary.” Commanders told investigators they were sometimes directly instructed to reclassify crimes as lesser offenses so they would not appear in the public data.
Beyond data concerns, the committee described what it called a toxic management environment within the department. The report cites a “culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation by Chief Smith” and alleges she “[…] regularly took action against her subordinates who failed to aid in the preservation of her public image.”
On Friday, News4 obtained a draft report from the U.S. attorney’s office that also found evidence of crime data manipulation. That report could be finalized as soon as Monday. U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said the conduct outlined “does not rise to the level of a criminal charge,” but added that “it is up to MPD to take steps to internally address these underlying issues.”
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) December 15, 2025
NEW: Report accuses D.C Police Chief of 'fear, intimidation, threats' and MANIPULATING STATISTICS to create the impression that crime is low
House committee accuses D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith of directing commanders to manipulate crime data
Report says she tried to make… pic.twitter.com/19QH8gQGjQ
After reviewing nearly 6,000 reports and interviewing more than 50 witnesses, Pirro said “a significant number of reports had been misclassified, making crime appear artificially lower than it was.” She praised President Donald Trump’s takeover of MPD, arguing the findings show crime had been higher than previously reported.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer called on Smith to resign immediately, saying, “Chief Smith’s decision to mislead the public by manipulating crime statistics is dangerous and undermines trust in both local leadership and law enforcement.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser did not directly address the report on Sunday, instead crediting declining crime to the work of DC police and Smith’s leadership.
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