WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to take credit for declining crime rates in the nation’s capital, portraying the reductions as evidence that his tough-on-crime approach and expanded federal presence are working.
But two community violence prevention leaders in Washington, D.C., who work daily in neighborhoods most affected by gun violence, say the story on the ground tells a different tale—one rooted not in militarization or mass enforcement but in public health strategies, local leadership and sustained federal investment during the Biden administration.
Gregory Jackson, a gun violence prevention leader in Washington, D.C., who formerly served as deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention under President Biden and is now a candidate for D.C. Council at-large, said bluntly in an interview that Trump’s claim is unfounded.
“I think, frankly, it’s ridiculous,” Jackson said.
“The reason we’re seeing the historic reductions in violent crime across the country is not because of military on streets and certain cities, it’s because we passed the first law on gun violence in 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022,” he said.
Jackson added that during his time in the White House, the administration advanced what he described as unprecedented federal action.
“And under the Biden administration, as deputy director, I helped lead a team that moved forward 54 executive actions, which is historic in itself. And we invested $42 billion into public safety,” he said .
He argued that the decline in violence is national in scope and not unique to Washington.
“And so that effort nationwide combined with strong leadership in our major cities is why we’re seeing this historic reduction,” Jackson said .
He pointed to major cities across the country reporting historically low numbers.
“And if you look at every major city in America, especially those with over a million residents, the numbers are historically low, whether it’s Detroit, New York City, Richmond, California, or Austin, Texas. We are seeing huge drops across the country and DC is actually trending behind those cities,” he said.
Jackson was particularly critical of the visible federal presence in parts of the District.
“To point to a city that’s been militarized that’s actually behind the trend of the rest of the country, I think it just reinforces how they’re just trying to politicize and justify a very wasteful and ineffective strategy,” he said.
Asked about the practical impact of militarized patrols, Jackson dismissed the idea that they meaningfully reduce violence.
“I mean, there’s no effect,” he said.
He noted that officers are often seen near commercial areas rather than in the residential neighborhoods most affected by gun violence.
“Right now, they are patrolling around commercial corridors. So walking around coffee shops and bars, whereas the communities most impacted by violence are primarily residential,” Jackson said.
He also questioned their legal authority to act.
“They also don’t have any jurisdiction in the district. So even if they see a crime occurring, they don’t have the jurisdiction to take action,” he said.
According to Jackson, the spike in violence during the COVID-19 pandemic was not primarily a policing failure but a convergence of intensified risk factors.
“We’ve actually fallen below pre-COVID levels of crime,” he said.
He described violence as a public health crisis rather than solely a criminal justice issue.
“I think what it’s important for people to know is that the reason that we saw violence and crime spike during the pandemic, and specifically violence, is because violence is more of a health crisis than a crime crisis,” Jackson said .
He noted that in Black communities, “82% of homicides are not connected to another felony,” arguing that interpersonal conflict, compounded by the proliferation of firearms and economic and social instability, fueled the rise.
Jackson credited federal action to address illegal gun trafficking and expand accountability for reversing that trend.
“We made gun trafficking a federal offense. We shut down the largest manufacturer of ghost guns, which is a highly deadly and dangerous approach to firearm ownership. And we also made it illegal for domestic abusers to purchase a gun. And we also expanded our universal background checks,” he said .
He described the strategy as unprecedented in scope.
“This was the first time in American history that we have taken a public health approach to violence,” Jackson said .
He cited significant reductions in homicides and mass shootings.
“Some of the original projections are that we could reduce the numbers by 2 or 3%, but we reduced homicides by 49% in three years. We reduced mass shootings by 20%. And to make that significant reduction was nothing short of historic,” he said .
Jackson warned that abandoning that approach risks reversing gains.
“That approach has been stalled, if not reversed by the Trump administration. And so we’re kind of in dangerous territory without that federal approach that we know has been successful,” he said .
Terrance Staley, CEO of the Alliance of Concerned Men, a nonprofit public safety agency in Southeast Washington, echoed the assessment that crime in the District has been steadily declining.
“Crime in DC has been on a consistent decline,” Staley said .
He described witnessing firsthand the height of pandemic-era violence.
“There was a mass shooting in 2020 at the height of the pandemic right in front of our office in Southeast,” he said.
Since then, he said, the implementation of community-based strategies has changed the landscape.
“And since different community-based modalities and ecosystems were created, there’s been a consistent decline in violence,” Staley said.
He pushed back against depictions of Washington as lawless.
“Despite what you hear on the news, D.C. The terrible place, it’s terribly unsafe. We have youth that are outside doing this and doing that. That’s not the truth,” he said.
“Crime in DC is at an all-time low, just like across the nation at 32% (decline),” he added.
Staley, a veteran of three combat tours in Iraq, said the presence of heavily armed federal personnel is counterproductive.
“Definitely am not supportive of additional law enforcement from a federal level being on the grounds in the District of Columbia,” he said.
“When you implement soldiers on OCONUS on our soil for the purpose of public safety, that totally does the opposite of public safety,” he said.
“It raises people’s awareness that there’s a weapon in this space and that weapon can possibly (be) used to hurt them,” he said.
Staley attributed much of the nationwide decline to federal investment in community violence intervention under the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative.
“This is why there’s been a 32% decline in violence across the nation,” he said.
He emphasized the role of individuals with lived experience.
“This is why returning citizens were the key to that change happening,” Staley said.
He described a coordinated ecosystem in Southeast Washington where community-based responders address conflicts before they escalate.
“This is what’s occurring in parts to the District of Columbia, and so people need to understand that this exists so that they understand that there is gains in public safety,” he said.
Together, Jackson and Staley paint a portrait of declining violence driven by policy, investment and prevention rather than federal troop presence or rhetorical force.
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I know it’s hard for Democrats to give Trump credit for anything but if a Democrat was in the White House and the crime rates were dropping as fast as they are they would be heaping praise on that President.
Trump’s “get-tough” policies, including increased law enforcement, federal deployments, and immigration crackdowns on criminals are directly having an effect on bringing down crime. Suck it up Democrats and give the credit where it’s due.
The whole point of doing the interviews with people who are actually working on the ground in DC is to give a different perspective.