fox news: Trump task force exceeds 10,000 arrests in D.C. crackdown, DOJ declares ‘era of unchecked violence is over’
Federal officials announced that a multiagency law-enforcement operation in Washington, D. C., has surpassed 10, 000 arrests since it launched in August 2025, and has recovered more than 1, 000 illegal firearms as part of an aggressive crackdown on violent crime. The Justice Department framed the milestone as proof the city can be reclaimed through concentrated federal resources.
Operation scope and leadership
The initiative was created by executive action signed in March 2025 and mobilized last August, bringing together roughly 3, 100 personnel from 28 federal and local components to conduct sweeps, targeted enforcement and prosecutions in neighborhoods hit hardest by violent crime. The U. S. Marshals Service director, Gadyaces S. Serralta, leads the law-enforcement partnership at the center of the operation.
Teams conducting the surge have included marshals, investigators and uniformed officers working alongside National Guard elements and local police. Officials emphasize that the effort combines street-level arrests with follow-through prosecutions aimed at dismantling repeat violent offenders and criminal networks.
Numbers on arrests, weapons and public-safety impact
As of Thursday morning ET, the task force registered 10, 018 arrests and a recovery of 1, 036 illegal firearms. Authorities also located or recovered 19 missing children as part of the sweeps, officials state. Those figures were presented as benchmarks of progress after months of concentrated activity across the district.
Officials released comparative crime data showing steep year-over-year declines in several categories. Homicides in the district are down 68% compared with the same period in 2025, robberies have fallen 47%, sexual assaults are down 64%, and total violent crime is lower by 31%. Department leaders credited the combination of enhanced street presence and aggressive prosecution for the shifts.
Officials’ statements and broader implications
Attorney General Pamela Bondi praised the initiative as life-saving and restorative for the capital, saying the concentrated federal surge has demonstrated that tolerating crime is a choice and that public safety can be restored through decisive action. U. S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro described the results as the end of an "era of unchecked violence, " pointing to historic lows in homicides in recent months.
Supporters of the operation point to the rapid arrests, weapons seizures and the decline in major violent-crime categories as evidence the strategy is working. Law-enforcement officials stress that sustained enforcement and prosecution, paired with community engagement and victim services, are necessary to preserve those gains.
Critics of large federal surges into municipal jurisdictions argue such operations risk straining local-federal relationships and may produce short-lived reductions if underlying social and economic factors are not addressed. Local leaders and community groups will face pressure to translate enforcement wins into lasting improvements in public safety and neighborhood stability.
The department plans to continue the partnership model while tracking metrics tied to arrests, weapons recoveries and crime rates. Officials say the next phase will focus on targeted investigations that aim to dismantle trafficking networks and other organized elements believed to fuel violent incidents in the district.
The numbers released this week provide a new measure of the federal footprint in the capital and set up a broader conversation about how to balance federal enforcement with local governance and long-term crime-prevention strategies.
