Attorney General Pam Bondi appoints DEA chief as DC's 'emergency police commissioner'

Source: USA Today

Updated Aug. 14, 2025, 11:23 p.m. ET


WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive on Aug. 14 naming Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole as the "emergency police commissioner" of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department.

"Commissioner Cole shall assume all of the powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police," Bondi's directive said, adding Cole will have the authority to issue orders that apply to MPD members. MPD's existing leadership, including the current police chief and bureau heads, "must receive approval from Commissioner Cole before issuing any further directives to the MPD," Bondi's order said.

President Donald Trump said earlier this week he was deploying hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city's police department to curb what he has depicted as a crime emergency in the U.S. capital, though statistics show incidents of violent crime have dropped.

Trump, a Republican, said on Aug. 13 that he will seek long-term federal control of Washington's police force to crack down on crime, engaging in an escalating campaign to exert presidential power over the nation's capital, a Democratic stronghold.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/14/feds-conduct-raid-outside-newsom-event/85667080007/