WASHINGTON — Four days after all sworn D.C. police officers began working 12-hour shifts and had leave requests canceled, officials confirmed Friday the Metropolitan Police Department ended its state of full activation, with personnel returning to a less heightened posture.
The decision to fully activate the capital’s police force was made April 15, ahead of the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. A Minneapolis jury on Tuesday found the former officer guilty of murdering George Floyd, prompting a palpable sense of relief among communities bracing for potential unrest.
In tandem with the decision to put D.C. police on alert, the Pentagon also granted a request from the District government late Monday to activate the city’s National Guard.
The D.C. Guard remains technically activated until May 9, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed Friday. The mission is separate from the more than 2,000 soldiers guarding the U.S. Capitol complex.
The Department of Defense also confirmed no D.C. Guard members are currently patrolling the city’s streets. All of the 250 activated D.C. troops are now stationed at the District’s armory, on standby.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser is able to rescind the Guard request ahead of May 9, yet such a request has not been made, a Guard official said.
A diminished law enforcement posture will only prove temporary, as MPD is prepared to activate officers on extended shifts for President Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night.
Diminished security concerns after the Chauvin verdict also led to the tabling of an idea to rebuild outer perimeter Capitol fencing.
While the U.S. Capitol Police Board was set to vote on the rebuilding measure the evening of the verdict, the plan was scrapped in the wake of Chauvin found guilty on all counts, an official with D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D) office confirmed.