Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was asked about President Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, DC, and to take Federal Control of the city's police.
00:00I'm Mariel with DC News Now. Are there any concerns that, you know, with this rhetoric that we have NPD, the National Guard, possible other law enforcement agencies on the ground, that there will be confusion about who's in charge, who these officers answer to, and how people should respond if approached by any of these law enforcement.
00:17Well, we should note, and we have been advised, and we will continue to make this clear that this is needed in our city, that all law enforcement be identifiable by uniform, a badge, a jacket, so that people know that they are law enforcement.
00:41And the chief, in her coordination with the kind of the command on the federal side, will make clear kind of how the protocols for response.
00:57And if there's any additional information we need to get out to the public, we will.
01:02But the main point is this. Everybody should follow the law, the police, and the community.
01:09And that's the case now. It was the case last week, and it was the case the week before that. So nothing has changed about that.
01:17Yep.
01:18Hi, Lionel Donovan, WUSA.
01:19Would you be able to respond to a statement that came out from DC Police Union?
01:24When they come out recently, they were saying that they stand with the president, and that they have also said that they're calling for the president to go even further and repeal some of the legislation that DC counsel passed in 2020.
01:39I'm afraid I haven't seen that statement yet, so I don't want to comment on it.
01:43We have, you know, worked very closely with the DC Police Union. Some issues they've advanced I've totally agreed with, others I haven't.
01:53One thing that we are squarely supportive of is making sure that our department can recruit more officers and get to a number that I think we need.
02:05We've worked cooperatively with them on recruitment and retention activities, on some other changes to the law that were very objectionable to the union and our members, and we will continue to do that.
02:20Yeah.
02:21Peace and blessings, Madam Mayor.
02:23So in what way, if any, does this change your strategy in terms of your relationship with the president?
02:31You've been pretty cooperative, pretty diplomatic, but, you know, he's saying one thing about crime, you're stating facts, and he's still infringing on your role as mayor.
02:42So, you know, as far as your relationship and your strategy, you know, are you going to, what do you intend to do as far as, you know, engaging with him at this point?
02:52Well, we, we engage with all officials that impact the district, and that includes the president, so I don't expect that that would change from our part.
03:02But as far as, you know, and I don't, if I may follow up.
03:06Sure.
03:07Are you going to go, what some might consider a bit harder in pushing back against what he's trying to do?
03:13You know, will your tenor change or intensify, you know?
03:16My tenor will be appropriate for what I think is important for the district.
03:24And what's important for the district is that we can take care of our citizens.
03:29And if people are concerned about a president's ability to, to have the MPD police department be responsive to the Department of Justice,
03:43the time to address that is when we're talking about statehood for D.C.
03:48If people are concerned about the president being able to move the National Guard into our city,
03:54the time to do that would have been when the Congress had a bill that it could have given control of the D.C. National Guard to D.C.
04:01So there are things that when a city is not a state and not fully autonomous and doesn't have senators,
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