Federal Agents Thrust into Unfamilar Roles in Washington, D.C., Police Takeover

Federal agents assigned to patrol Washington as part of the federal takeover of the U.S. capital are taking on duties that fall outside their usual jobs, provoking consternation that they’ve been diverted from work they were trained for to tasks they’ve never done.

Some federal officials said agents have been pulled from specialized assignments and placed into unfamiliar field roles, with little clarity on who is directing operations or what the metrics for success will be. Others said they worried about the lack of defined rules, coordination, and clear exit timelines.

“The FBI is an intelligence agency,” said Michael King, a retired New York Police Department inspector and cyber investigator with the FBI. “They are not trained to handle everyday law enforcement activities such as car stops, dealing with emotionally disturbed persons, robberies, burglaries or any kind of street crime because that is not their function.”

King warned that federal agents have entirely different use-of-force guidelines from the police, “which could place both them and civilians in a dangerous position during a confrontation.”

Several federal agencies already have jurisdiction over aspects of law enforcement in the city. The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation didn’t respond to requests for comment. But Drug Enforcement Agency Director Terry Cole defended the move in an interview on Fox News on Tuesday.

“You will see federal agents working hand in hand on patrol with the Metropolitan Police Department,” Cole said. “You will also see an increase of activity, patrol activity, in certain sectors to go after the violent criminal offenders that are the drivers of this crime. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye.”

President Donald Trump on Monday invoked a provision of the District’s Home Rule Act to assume temporary control of the Metropolitan Police Department, saying the move was necessary to address crime and homelessness. The order included activation of 800 National Guard troops and reassignment of federal agents — including about 130 from the FBI — to support local law enforcement on the streets of the capital.

Trump initially said he planned to control the police department until the 30-day limit set by law. On Wednesday, he signaled he’d be asking Congress for extensions of the order, and that if conditions warrant he could call a national emergency that would allow operations to continue without congressional authority.

Secret Service agents have been deputized to enforce local laws, authority they do not ordinarily possess in the District — according to a person familiar with the planning who asked not to be identified to speak candidly about the president’s orders.

That’s an expansion of the agency’s traditional protective mission and routine patrols near the White House and the Naval Observatory.

John Devito, a retired special agent who led the New York office of the ATF from 2017 until his retirement in 2024, said that while federal agents may not regularly handle patrol work like municipal officers, they are trained to adapt across different environments.

“Their training and experience in investigations, surveillance, critical incident response and inter-agency coordination position them to provide valuable support alongside local police when circumstances require it,” Devito said.

The DC Police Union issued a statement in support of the president’s action to seize management its operations, with its chairman Greggory Pemberton saying “crime is spiraling out of control, and immediate action is necessary to restore public safety.”

City officials have disputed that premise. Homicides in Washington dropped by more than 20% last year, and violent crime overall reached a 30-year low, according to the Justice Department.

The move is part of a broader expansion of federal enforcement authority under Trump. In January, the Department of Homeland Security authorized agents from ATF, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Marshals Service to carry out civil immigration arrests. ATF agents, typically tasked with regulating firearms dealers and investigating gun trafficking, were reassigned to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Several agents involved in that effort said they were not instructed to gather intelligence or conduct interviews, even in cases involving individuals suspected of ties to transnational gangs. The work was described internally as reactive and disconnected from broader case-building efforts.

According to other people familiar with the assignment who also asked not to be identified, several federal agents were dispatched this week to traffic posts and late-night patrols without field-specific preparation. They were asked to take on roles that more closely resemble local police work.

Robert D’Amico, who spent much of his career on the FBI’s hostage rescue team, said patrol work requires a different mentality — the kind learned alongside a field training officer who shows “how to approach a person” and “how not to stand,” he said.

“Most agents don’t have gun belts like you walk the street with,” D’Amico said.

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