Expand / Collapse search
☰

Bowser responds to growing MPD crime data scandal

By
Published  May 6, 2026 2:59pm EDT
Metropolitan Police Department
FOX 5 DC

The Brief

    • Thirteen senior MPD officials have been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into alleged manipulation of crime statistics.
    • Mayor Bowser says those found to have deliberately altered data could face termination, with accountability depending on findings of intent and systemic failures.
    • The probe is being reviewed by the D.C. Inspector General and House Oversight Committee, with disciplinary decisions expected to take months.

WASHINGTON - D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded Wednesday to a growing scandal inside the Metropolitan Police Department could lead to the firing of more than a dozen senior officials accused of manipulating crime data.

What we know:

At issue are 13 senior Metropolitan Police Department officials who have been placed on administrative leave as part of an internal investigation into how crime statistics were handled.

The department is reviewing whether disciplinary action, including possible termination, is warranted.

Those under review include Executive Assistant Chief Andre Wright, who was placed on leave earlier this year.

Officials have not said who directed any changes under investigation.

What they're saying:

"At some point, I guess MPD will talk about the categories of crime that experienced changes and what's going to be really key in I suspect is in all of these recommendations for termination is if this is deliberate, if it is meant to make the official look good and not show what's actually happening. There are repercussions for that," said DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. "We will look for systematic problems that, in my estimation, should have caught any individual problems. And I am hopeful that that will be laid out in the inspector general's report."

"We've been here for six years now. We've been short 800 police officers and we've been told repeatedly, 'well, crime is down. When crime is down you don't need to fix that gap,' but crime has not been down not at all and these 35 and 40 percent drops in crime categories that they've been reporting we're now learning have been a lie," said Greggory Pemberton from the D.C. Police Union. "This crime stat manipulation, as ubiquitous and widespread as it was, it's corruption within the police department, and it needs to be rooted out. And anyone who's responsible needs to be held accountable. And most importantly, moving forward, we need to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

What's next:


The investigation is being reviewed by the House Oversight Committee and the D.C. Office of the Inspector General.

Officials say the process of reviewing potential disciplinary action could take several months.

Metropolitan Police DepartmentMuriel Bowser