Trump signals plan for crime bill

(NEXSTAR) – President Donald Trump is ramping up his efforts to combat crime, signaling plans for a new federal crime bill and expanding federal oversight in cities like Washington, D.C.

In a social media post Wednesday, Trump said he is in talks with Republican leaders to draft legislation “now,” though he did not provide specific details about what the bill would include.

The announcement comes as the president intensifies his focus on crime in Democrat-led cities, frequently citing Chicago and Baltimore as examples.

“Chicago is the worst. These places are really bad,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting Tuesday.

In Washington, D.C., the federal crackdown is already underway. Armed National Guard troops continue to patrol the streets, and on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Department of Transportation will assume control of Union Station, one of the nation’s busiest transit hubs.

“We are going to make the investments to make sure that this station isn’t dirty, that we don’t have homelessness in Union Station,” Duffy said.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged that the federal government owns Union Station but said she is still awaiting details about the takeover. She called broader federal intervention unnecessary, pointing to data from her office showing crime in the District is at a 30-year low, a claim the president disputes.

“It’s much worse. They gave phony numbers,” Trump said.

The president has asked the attorney general to investigate the city’s crime statistics. Congressional Republicans are also launching an investigation.

But Alexis Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, said federal data shows crime is down nationally.

“For the most part, homicide, rape, robbery, assault, most property crimes, what you see is what you get,” Piquero said. “And it has been tracking that way for the last few years in just about every big city.”