DC deployment Day 8: Crime down, alleged wrongful arrest, friendly Guard

President Trump federalized the D.C. Police Department and deployed the National Guard one week ago

Now, guardsmen, federal agents and officers are stationed around the district. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced federal agents and NPD officers have made nearly 400 arrests since the operation began and seized dozens of firearms

But does D.C. feel any safer? We asked locals. Have you noticed a difference in safety in this city over the last week

People like me who work a regular nine to five. I can't even come outside without being scared I'm going to be pressed out

Yesterday on my way home, look at this shit. I got grabbed through against my wall for no reason

This is handcuffs. By who? Random police officer that said he can grab me because he has probable cause

It made no sense to me. I did 10 hours that day. They cleared me within 10 minutes

They just wanted to, you know, intimidate me. What is the root cause of violence in DC in your mind

It's not where you live is how you live. In DC, everything is so enclosed and convenient

So streets are convenient, drugs are convenient, alcohol is convenient, and everybody just fighting for their little piece of convenience

How do you think that these officers or just the city in general could address safety in DC When you have officers that are from the community or even just share like an empathic relationship with people in the community it help them socialize with people in the community better approach them better

Like I said, they just approached me, they just grabbed me. They didn't ask me not one question, bro

They grabbed me. I swear to God, they grabbed me and then started asking me questions

If you just talk to people, you know, with a clear mind, clear head, then maybe they'll feel safer about talking to the police, you know

While Terrence King said he opposes the federal agents, we spoke with Aisha, another lifelong D.C. resident, who said a family member's three-year-old daughter was killed just last month, and she supports the federalization

The violence within these last, I say, since the 4th of July up to now has been crazy

It's shaking some people up because some stuff that people was doing, they're scared, you know

Just hopefully the crime will go away. That's all I want. I want the shooting to stop

These innocent children, these innocent children are dying for nothing. And it's sad

I want these innocent children to stop dying. I want them to have a chance. That's our future. That's our legacy

So the D.C. National Guardsmen here at Union Station are very relaxed

People are walking up to them and asking for pictures They asking for directions The Guardsmen are even handing out water to people who ask We at one of the main transport hubs We across the street from the Capitol building and there is no sign of tension At this point they have to do

what they have to do. I think that the crime has settled down some, and hopefully once they go

they don't have to extend it. I heard they have some more people coming. It's making me a little

nervous, but the crime... How does that make you nervous, the possibility of an extension

I just, you know, because it made me nervous because I heard it was an incident down at Gallery Place where they had jumped on a lady and beat her up

You know, I don't know if it's true or not, but that was enough that just made me nervous. So you support them being here, but at the same time have a little bit of nervousness that they could potentially overstep

Yes. Let me ask you, when you see these National Guardsmen here, do you see this as political in any way

To a certain extent. Put it this way, when you look at them, do you see National Guardsmen or do you see Donald Trump

I see National Guardsmen. I don't see Donald Trump. Personally, that's how I feel

I just feel like they're here. They had no choice. They had to come

We're in Chinatown, and this is what we've seen. FBI agents and Homeland Security Investigations agents are standing and looking over the shoulders of Metro Police Department officers as they write people tickets for fare hopping buses

It just kind of feels really weird. If we saw these kind of news headlines in another country, we would be panicking, right

If China was doing stuff like this, where the Capitol is being taken over by federal officers, can you imagine the headlines we'd see

and said it's justified over a crime rate that doesn't exist. It's just weird

Let me just push back on that for just one second, though, because if you or I hopped the turnstile, as they would say on the subway

and got on without a ticket, I would fully expect to be written a ticket or a citation for that

So what's wrong with what they're doing right now? I think the wrong part is we already have resources like that in place

We already have metro cops who wait in certain areas. It's weird that we're having federal agents be brought in here

have this kind of presence, all for those kind of minor things. I think if you want to have a conversation about more police in D.C., I'm really up for that

I think we do kind of lack a little bit of policing here. But to bring in HSI agents, FBI, to do these random kind of tasks, it's strange

It's a waste of taxpayer dollars. It's overreached by federal government. It's really strange