Metropolitan Police Department rescinds email urging arrests and opens investigation
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 1
Metropolitan Police Department rescinds email urging arrests and opens investigation
8 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 1
The withdrawn memo from Sixth District Sector 2 Captain Jerome Merrill in Washington, DC, cited body-camera footage and told officers not to “finesse” their way out of arrests.
Police said the email contained incorrect information, while former Supreme Court police chief Ross Swope and union president Gregg Pemberton said arrests cannot legally be based on reasonable suspicion alone.
The dispute comes amid heightened scrutiny of crime in the capital, where rates have fallen since a 2023 peak but violent crime remains above the national per-capita average, according to FBI data.
With MPD leadership under investigation for crime stats manipulation, can D.C. residents trust reported drops in violent crime?
How might the tension between federal intervention and local oversight reshape police accountability and daily law enforcement in Washington D.C.?