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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Via AP news wire

DC police chief steps down ‘to spend more time with family’ after Trump crackdown

Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police Pamela Smith speaks during a news conference on an arrest of a suspect in the January 6th pipe bombing case at the Department of Justice on December 4, 2025 in Washington, DC - (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Washington, D.C.’s police chief is stepping down after being catapulted into national attention as President Donald Trump moved to federalize Washington’s police force.

Pamela Smith, appointed in 2023, had been brought in to stabilize a department facing staffing shortages and a city shaken by post-pandemic crime.

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