2 Weeks, 1,000 Arrests: How a Surge of Feds Changed D.C. Policing
30th August 2025
The New York Times, a Voice of the Crust.
Juan Carlos Dela Torre had already experienced one run-in with one of the roving crews of federal law enforcement agents who descended on Washington, D.C., this month. Then on Friday night came another.
He was standing on the sidewalk smoking a joint, which the officers grabbed as evidence of “consuming marijuana in a public space,” a misdemeanor in the district. The officers took him to a local police station, searched him and, they said, found a small amount of the stimulant MDMA. He was sent to jail.
“I’ve never seen this much police presence in my whole life,” said Mr. Dela Torre, 37, a massage therapist who has lived in Washington since 1994. “You guys are worried about some guy smoking a joint on the corner on a Friday night?”
Yeah, because if you get away with a small thing, next you’ll try to get away with a big thing. This is the Broken Windows Theory that Rudi Giuliani used to clean up New York City during his term as mayor. As Giuliani demonstrated, it works.