White House says many arrests are being made in DC’s Wards 7 and 8

Mitchell Miller | mmiller1@wtop.com
August 20, 2025, 5:07 AM

The White House is pushing back against criticism that the federal takeover of D.C.’s police department, along with the growing number of National Guard personnel, is not focusing enough on the high-crime areas of D.C. {snip} White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday addressed criticism linked to the city’s crime hot spots. … “In fact, nearly half of all of the non-illegal alien arrests have occurred in Wards 7 and 8,” she said.

A White House official told WTOP that between Aug. 9 and Aug. 17, there had been a total of 212 non-immigration related arrests. Of those, 101 were in Wards 7 and 8. … Of those 101 arrests, 40 arrests were made in Ward 7 and 61 arrests in Ward 8. The greatest numbers were for gun-related and drug-related charges. Twenty-four of the arrests were for gun-related charges in Ward 8, along with 13 arrests for drug charges.

Crime was already trending downward in the crime hot spots

Residents in the two wards have complained for years about the high level of crime and many residents say they are glad the issue is being taken seriously across the city. … But there has also been skepticism about the latest crime-fighting efforts, since so much attention has focused on National Guard members and law enforcement in other parts of D.C.

Crime, while still high in the two southern wards, has been trending downward, according to numbers provided by D.C.’s police department. … In Ward 8, there were 99 murders in 2023. Last year, there were 66. … As of Tuesday, there had been 38 murders in Ward 8 this year. By comparison, there have been four murders in Ward 2, which includes the National Mall and Georgetown.

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Mitchell Miller
Mitchell Miller has worked at WTOP since 1996, as a producer, editor, reporter and Senior News Director. After working "behind the scenes," coordinating coverage and reporter coverage for years, Mitchell moved back to his first love -- reporting. He is now WTOP's Capitol Hill reporter.
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