MPD chief: 13 officers disciplined over allegations of crime data manipulation

Nbcwashington · May 06, 2026 · 486 words · By Ted Oberg; Maggie More; Mauricio Casillas

Police accountability Government Transparency Crime Statistics Integrity

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Jeffery Carroll, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, announced on Tuesday that 13 people are on administrative leave as part of a series of "organizational changes." In other words, those 13 individuals — all captains or above, all in…

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left12%

Center76%

Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

And all of them were served termination papers in connection to the way they handled crime statistics and possibly manipulated those crime statistics to minimize the level of crime in D.C.

Common ground

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Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Police accountability story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The 13 MPD members placed on administrative leave do have the right to appeal?
How does this story connect Police accountability with Government Transparency over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/mpd-chief-officers-disciplined-allegati…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

schedule Pending 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “The 13 MPD members placed on administrative leave do have the right to appeal.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “The head of the House Oversight Committee in Congress, Rep. James Comer, is still waiting for a copy of the internal report from MPD that came from its internal investigation.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “None has been fired yet.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that while termination papers have been served, the officials have not been fired yet and are currently on administrative leave.

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web search NEUTRAL — The police employees served termination papers are entitled to due process before being fired, under the department's general orders. None has been fired yet. Among those given termination notices are…
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/mpd-chief-officers-…

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web search NEUTRAL — WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Thirteen Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) members were placed on administrative leave and served termination papers Monday, officials confirmed.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dc-police-13-members-on-le…

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web search NEUTRAL — The officials involved have not been fired at this point, and can appeal, but are currently on administrative leave as the process continues to play out.RELATED | MPD interim chief confirms 13 officia…
https://wjla.com/news/local/us-attorney-pirro-not-surprised-…

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Claim 4: “the internal review would not be made public”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding whether the internal review would be made public or not.

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Claim 5: “Among those given termination notices are four high-level officials. Three of those worked very closely with former Chief Pamela Smith, including her second-in-command and at least one assistant chief who oversaw patrol in half of D.C.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including NBC 4 (via ZeroHedge), confirm that four high-level officials received notices, three of whom were close to former Chief Pamela Smith, including her second-in-command.

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web search NEUTRAL — Among those given termination notices are four high-level officials. Three of those worked very closely with former Chief Pamela Smith, including her second-in-command and at least one assistant chief…
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/mpd-chief-officers-…

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web search NEUTRAL — NBC 4 reports that three of the high-level officials worked very closely with former Chief Pamela Smith, including her second-in-command and at least one assistant chief who oversaw patrol in half of …
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dc-police-officials-disc…

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web search NEUTRAL — Former Chief Pamela Smith has not publicly commented on the matter, but her tenure is now under heavy scrutiny. If the investigation verifies that systemic data tampering happened “under her watch,” a…
https://www.objectivist.co/2026/05/dc-police-scandal-explode…

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Claim 6: “those 13 individuals — all captains or above, all in leadership — are on their way toward termination.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report that the 13 individuals are high-ranking officials (captains or above) and are facing termination.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known locally as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and, colloquially, DC Police, is the primary law enforce…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Police_Department…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — MPD Psycho, short for Multiple Personality Detective Psycho (Japanese: 多重人格探偵サイコ, Hepburn: Tajū-Jinkaku Tantei Saiko), is a Japanese manga series written by Eiji Ōtsuka and illustrated by Shōu Tajima.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_Personality_Detective…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Shannon Street massacre was a shootout and standoff between law enforcement and religious leaders at a house on Shannon Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, United States from January 11 to January 13, 1…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Street_massacre

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Homicides, shootings and carjackings have fallen steadily since 2023.”

CORROBORATED

Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll explicitly stated this at a press conference, and CBS News analysis confirmed the decline in violent crime, homicides, and carjackings.

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web search NEUTRAL — During a news conference on Tuesday, Acting MPD Police Chief Jeffrey Carroll said he stood by the fact that crime has decreased in D.C. in recent years.Homicides, shootings, and carjackings have falle…
https://wjla.com/features/i-team/dc-police-mpd-commander-ass…

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web search NEUTRAL — Carjackings dropped from 31 to 4. A CBS News analysis confirmed the steep decline, finding that violent crime in D.C. has fallen nearly 50 percent compared with the same period last year. Since August…
https://tjvnews.com/news/national/fewer-gun-crimes-fewer-hom…

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web search NEUTRAL — The District has had 10 carjackings as of January 16, 2025. “Despite the massive reduction in carjacking incidents, this Office remains vigilant in aggressively pursuing and prosecuting those committi…
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/carjackings-decline-dc-de…

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Claim 8: “Greggory Pemberton, the head of D.C.'s police officers union, said the command staff officials responsible for this betrayal must be held accountable.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding a statement by Greggory Pemberton.

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Claim 9: “Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Wednesday that she doesn't have a full grasp of the investigation and wants to see what the inspector general has to say about an audit under way of the departments crime stats.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While FOX 5 DC reports Mayor Bowser's response to the scandal, the specific wording regarding her 'not having a full grasp' and waiting for the IG audit is not independently corroborated by the other provided snippets.

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web search NEUTRAL — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded Wednesday to a growing scandal inside the Metropolitan Police Department could lead to the firing of more than a dozen senior officials accused of manipulating crime…
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/bowser-responds-growing-mpd-crim…

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web search NEUTRAL — Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city officials say crime was already trending downward.Neither investigation found grounds to charge anyone with a crime. Pirro said at the time it was up to t…
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/washington-congress-donal…

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web search NEUTRAL — The president questioned MPD crime statistics at the White House on Monday. Overnight, the head of the DC Police Union told why he also distrusts the statistics.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-police-union-hea…

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Claim 10: “The police employees served termination papers are entitled to due process before being fired, under the department's general orders.”

CORROBORATED

News reports state that the employees are entitled to due process under the department's general orders before being fired.

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web search NEUTRAL — How many days does MPD have to determine whether an injury is classified as POD or Non-POD?These questions are listed in ascending order (100 -1200 series). If any question appears unclear or contains…
https://quizlet.com/357540709/mpd-general-orders-flash-cards…

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web search NEUTRAL — In order to help promote transparency, the MPD has posted policy statements issued by the Chief of Police (e.g., general orders, executive orders, and other directives) that are currently in effect fo…
https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/written-directives-general-orders

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Claim 11: “all of them were served termination papers in connection to the way they handled crime statistics and possibly manipulated those crime statistics to minimize the level of crime in D.C.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly link the termination papers to an internal investigation into the manipulation or 'fudging' of crime statistics.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There are three reported arrests of Ulysses S. Grant by officers of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD), all for speeding by horse. Grant, who led the Union Army to vi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrests_of_Ulysses_S._Grant

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Crime in Washington, D.C., is directly related to the city's demographics, geography, and unique criminal justice system. The District's population reached a peak of 802,178 in 1950. Shortly after tha…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “Jeffery Carroll, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, announced on Tuesday that 13 people are on administrative leave as part of a series of "organizational changes."”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (WJLA, FOX 5 DC, and other news reports) confirm that interim chief Jeffery Carroll announced 13 people were placed on administrative leave.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, generally simply referred to as the Chief of Police, is the head of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_the_Metropolitan_Poli…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of mass shootings that took place in the United States in 2024. Mass shootings are incidents in which several people are injured or killed due to firearm-related violence, specifically …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.