Washington, D.C. homicides dropped sharply in the first half of 2026, and the mother of a congressional intern killed in 2025 says President Donald Trump’s DC crime crackdown is making a real difference. New figures from the Major Cities Chiefs Association show homicides in the capital fell 43.9% compared with the same period a year earlier, a change that came after the National Guard was sent in and the city police force was placed under federal control in August 2025.
The data show 46 homicides in Washington during the first half of 2026, down from 82 in the first half of 2025. The change has become central to the debate over Trump’s law-and-order push in the capital. Trump said at the time that the move was meant to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the president “promised to make America safe again” and that the data show he has done so. She also said the administration’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force has carried out more than 16,000 arrests, including arrests of murderers, sex offenders, drug traffickers and other violent criminals.
Tamara Jachym, whose son Eric Tarpinian-Jachym was killed in 2025, said she believes the presence of the National Guard has helped calm the city. She said, “Something’s working and I think extra eyes and ears on the ground is helping this happen.” Jachym added that people she speaks with in Washington, D.C., “from all walks of life” have told her they notice a difference and feel safer. She also said she remembered a time when “there was a homicide every other day till the National Guard came in.”
Investigators said several people got out of a vehicle and fired at a group that included Tarpinian-Jachym. Authorities said he was not the intended target. Jachym said the loss left her with a message for lawmakers who oppose sending the National Guard into major U.S. cities. She said elected officials need to think about the people living with the consequences of violent crime, not just the criminals.
