In August 2025, Executive Order 14333 declared a crime emergency in D.C., enabling closer federal involvement and aligning local and federal law enforcement actions.

The operation mobilized over 4,000 personnel from 28 agencies, plus National Guard troops across eight D.C. districts, illustrating a wide-reaching federal-local security push.

Preliminary 2026 data show declines in homicides and vehicle thefts, but rising assaults with dangerous weapons and a slight uptick in overall violent crime, according to MPD figures.

The killing of congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym acted as a catalyst, accelerating the operation and prompting arrests tied to the case.

The initiative traces back to the Executive Order Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful signed in early 2025 and expanded into a multi-agency operational framework involving the FBI, U.S. Marshals, DHS, ATF, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C., and the National Guard.

A major federal operation, launched to bolster security in Washington, D.C., reports more than 16,000 arrests in its first year, with nearly 2,000 illegal firearms seized.

As of early 2026, the arrest tally includes thousands of drug-related cases, dozens of murder suspects, hundreds of gang members detained, and hundreds of missing minors located as part of the broader effort.

The operation officially began in August 2025 and has seen arrests rise from about 6,150 by late 2025 to roughly 13,000 by mid-2026, with firearms recovered climbing to over 1,000.

Officials describe this as the largest collaboration between federal agencies and the National Guard to actively combat crime in a major U.S. city.