Subtitle VI-Other Crime Control and Law Enforcement Matters

Executive Documents

Ex. Ord. No. 13776. Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety

Ex. Ord. No. 13776, Feb. 9, 2017, 82 F.R. 10699, provided:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to reduce crime and restore public safety to communities across the Nation, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to reduce crime in America. Many communities across the Nation are suffering from high rates of violent crime. A focus on law and order and the safety and security of the American people requires a commitment to enforcing the law and developing policies that comprehensively address illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime. The Department of Justice shall take the lead on Federal actions to support law enforcement efforts nationwide and to collaborate with State, tribal, and local jurisdictions to restore public safety to all of our communities.

Sec. 2. Task Force. (a) In furtherance of the policy described in section 1 of this order, I hereby direct the Attorney General to establish, and to appoint or designate an individual or individuals to chair, a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety (Task Force). The Attorney General shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide administrative support and funding for the Task Force.

(b) The Attorney General shall determine the characteristics of the Task Force, which shall be composed of individuals appointed or designated by him.

(c) The Task Force shall:

(i) exchange information and ideas among its members that will be useful in developing strategies to reduce crime, including, in particular, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime;

(ii) based on that exchange of information and ideas, develop strategies to reduce crime;

(iii) identify deficiencies in existing laws that have made them less effective in reducing crime and propose new legislation that could be enacted to improve public safety and reduce crime;

(iv) evaluate the availability and adequacy of crime-related data and identify measures that could improve data collection in a manner that will aid in the understanding of crime trends and in the reduction of crime; and

(v) conduct any other studies and develop any other recommendations as directed by the Attorney General.

(d) The Task Force shall meet as required by the Attorney General and shall be dissolved once it has accomplished the objectives set forth in subsection (c) of this section, as determined by the Attorney General.

(e) The Task Force shall submit at least one report to the President within 1 year from the date of this order, and a subsequent report at least once per year thereafter while the Task Force remains in existence. The structure of the report is left to the discretion of the Attorney General. In its first report to the President and in any subsequent reports, the Task Force shall summarize its findings and recommendations under subsections (c)(ii) through (c)(v) of this section.

Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Donald J. Trump.      

Ex. Ord. No. 13933. Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence

Ex. Ord. No. 13933, June 26, 2020, 85 F.R. 40081, revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 14029, §1, May 14, 2021, 86 F.R. 27025, reinstated by Ex. Ord. No. 14189, §4, Jan. 29, 2025, 90 F.R. 8850, provided:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Purpose. The first duty of government is to ensure domestic tranquility and defend the life, property, and rights of its citizens. Over the last 5 weeks, there has been a sustained assault on the life and property of civilians, law enforcement officers, government property, and revered American monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial. Many of the rioters, arsonists, and left-wing extremists who have carried out and supported these acts have explicitly identified themselves with ideologies-such as Marxism-that call for the destruction of the United States system of government. Anarchists and left-wing extremists have sought to advance a fringe ideology that paints the United States of America as fundamentally unjust and have sought to impose that ideology on Americans through violence and mob intimidation. They have led riots in the streets, burned police vehicles, killed and assaulted government officers as well as business owners defending their property, and even seized an area within one city where law and order gave way to anarchy. During the unrest, innocent citizens also have been harmed and killed.

These criminal acts are frequently planned and supported by agitators who have traveled across State lines to promote their own violent agenda. These radicals shamelessly attack the legitimacy of our institutions and the very rule of law itself.

Key targets in the violent extremists' campaign against our country are public monuments, memorials, and statues. Their selection of targets reveals a deep ignorance of our history, and is indicative of a desire to indiscriminately destroy anything that honors our past and to erase from the public mind any suggestion that our past may be worth honoring, cherishing, remembering, or understanding. In the last week, vandals toppled a statue of President Ulysses S. Grant in San Francisco. To them, it made no difference that President Grant led the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy in the Civil War, enforced Reconstruction, fought the Ku Klux Klan, and advocated for the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed freed slaves the right to vote. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the names of 507 veterans memorialized on a World War II monument were painted over with a symbol of communism. And earlier this month, in Boston, a memorial commemorating an African-American regiment that fought in the Civil War was defaced with graffiti. In Madison, Wisconsin, rioters knocked over the statue of an abolitionist immigrant who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Christian figures are now in the crosshairs, too. Recently, an influential activist for one movement that has been prominent in setting the agenda for demonstrations in recent weeks declared that many existing religious depictions of Jesus and the Holy Family should be purged from our places of worship.

Individuals and organizations have the right to peacefully advocate for either the removal or the construction of any monument. But no individual or group has the right to damage, deface, or remove any monument by use of force.

In the midst of these attacks, many State and local governments appear to have lost the ability to distinguish between the lawful exercise of rights to free speech and assembly and unvarnished vandalism. They have surrendered to mob rule, imperiling community safety, allowing for the wholesale violation of our laws, and privileging the violent impulses of the mob over the rights of law-abiding citizens. Worse, they apparently have lost the will or the desire to stand up to the radical fringe and defend the fundamental truth that America is good, her people are virtuous, and that justice prevails in this country to a far greater extent than anywhere else in the world. Some particularly misguided public officials even appear to have accepted the idea that violence can be virtuous and have prevented their police from enforcing the law and protecting public monuments, memorials, and statues from the mob's ropes and graffiti.

My Administration will not allow violent mobs incited by a radical fringe to become the arbiters of the aspects of our history that can be celebrated in public spaces. State and local public officials' abdication of their law enforcement responsibilities in deference to this violent assault must end.

Sec. 2. Policy. (a) It is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate, any person or any entity that destroys, damages, vandalizes, or desecrates a monument, memorial, or statue within the United States or otherwise vandalizes government property. The desire of the Congress to protect Federal property is clearly reflected in section 1361 of title 18, United States Code, which authorizes a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment for the willful injury of Federal property. More recently, under the Veterans' Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003, section 1369 of title 18, United States Code, the Congress punished with the same penalties the destruction of Federal and in some cases State-maintained monuments that honor military veterans. Other criminal statutes, such as the Travel Act, section 1952 of title 18, United States Code, permit prosecutions of arson damaging monuments, memorials, and statues on State grounds in some cases. Civil statutes like the Public System Resource Protection Act [sic], section 100722 of title 54, United States Code, also hold those who destroy certain Federal property accountable for their offenses. The Federal Government will not tolerate violations of these and other laws.

(b) It is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate, any person or any entity that participates in efforts to incite violence or other illegal activity in connection with the riots and acts of vandalism described in section 1 of this order. Numerous Federal laws, including section 2101 of title 18, United States Code, prohibit the violence that has typified the past few weeks in some cities. Other statutes punish those who participate in or assist the agitators who have coordinated these lawless acts. Such laws include section 371 of title 18, United States Code, which criminalizes certain conspiracies to violate Federal law, section 2 of title 18, United States Code, which punishes those who aid or abet the commission of Federal crimes, and section 2339A of title 18, United States Code, which prohibits as material support to terrorism efforts to support a defined set of Federal crimes. Those who have joined in recent violent acts around the United States will be held accountable.

(c) It is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under Federal law, and as appropriate, any person or any entity that damages, defaces, or destroys religious property, including by attacking, removing, or defacing depictions of Jesus or other religious figures or religious art work. Federal laws prohibit, under certain circumstances, damage or defacement of religious property, including the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 [Pub. L. 104–155, see Short Title of 1996 Amendment note set out under section 241 of title 18], section 247 of title 18, United States Code, and section 371 of title 18, United States Code. The Federal Government will not tolerate violations of these laws designed to protect the free exercise of religion.

(d) It is the policy of the United States, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to withhold Federal support tied to public spaces from State and local governments that have failed to protect public monuments, memorials, and statues from destruction or vandalism. These jurisdictions' recent abandonment of their law enforcement responsibilities with respect to public monuments, memorials, and statues casts doubt on their willingness to protect other public spaces and maintain the peace within them. These jurisdictions are not appropriate candidates for limited Federal funds that support public spaces.

(e) It is the policy of the United States, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to withhold Federal support from State and local law enforcement agencies that have failed to protect public monuments, memorials, and statues from destruction or vandalism. Unwillingness to enforce State and local laws in the face of attacks on our history, whether because of sympathy for the extremists behind this violence or some other improper reason, casts doubt on the management of these law enforcement agencies. These law enforcement agencies are not appropriate candidates for limited Federal funds that support State and local police.

Sec. 3. Enforcing Laws Prohibiting the Desecration of Public Monuments, the Vandalism of Government Property, and Recent Acts of Violence. (a) The Attorney General shall prioritize within the Department of Justice the investigation and prosecution of matters described in subsections 2(a), (b), and (c) of this order. The Attorney General shall take all appropriate enforcement action against individuals and organizations found to have violated Federal law through these investigations.

(b) The Attorney General shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, work with State and local law enforcement authorities and Federal agencies to ensure the Federal Government appropriately provides information and assistance to State and local law enforcement authorities in connection with their investigations or prosecutions for the desecration of monuments, memorials, and statues, regardless of whether such structures are situated on Federal property.

Sec. 4. Limiting Federal Grants for Jurisdictions and Law Enforcement Agencies that Permit the Desecration of Monuments, Memorials, or Statues. The heads of all executive departments and agencies shall examine their respective grant programs and apply the policies established by sections 2(d) and (e) of this order to all such programs to the extent that such application is both appropriate and consistent with applicable law.

Sec. 5. Providing Assistance for the Protection of Federal Monuments, Memorials, Statues, and Property. Upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Administrator of General Services, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, personnel to assist with the protection of Federal monuments, memorials, statues, or property. This section shall terminate 6 months from the date of this order [June 26, 2020] unless extended by the President.

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, affect the prosecutorial discretion of the Department of Justice with respect to individual cases.

Donald J. Trump.      

Ex. Ord. No. 14252. Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful

Ex. Ord. No. 14252, Mar. 27, 2025, 90 F.R. 14559, provided:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. As the Federal capital city, Washington, D.C., is the only city that belongs to all Americans and that all Americans can claim as theirs. As the capital city of the greatest Nation in the history of the world, it should showcase beautiful, clean, and safe public spaces.

America's capital must be a place in which residents, commuters, and tourists feel safe at all hours, including on public transit. Its highways, boulevards, and parks should be clean, well-kept, and pleasant. Its monuments, museums, and buildings should reflect and inspire awe and appreciation for our Nation's strength, greatness, and heritage. Our citizens deserve nothing less.

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to make the District of Columbia safe, beautiful, and prosperous by preventing crime, punishing criminals, preserving order, protecting our revered American monuments, and promoting beautification and the preservation of our history and heritage.

Sec. 3. Making the District of Columbia Safe by Fighting Crime. (a) My Administration shall work closely with local officials to share information, develop joint priorities, and maximize resources to make the District of Columbia safe. Such coordination shall occur through the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force (Task Force), which is hereby established by this order. The Task Force shall be chaired by the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor or his designee, and shall otherwise include representatives from the following departments, agencies, or components, selected as such department, agency, or component determines:

(i) the Department of the Interior;

(ii) the Department of Transportation;

(iii) the Department of Homeland Security;

(iv) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(v) the United States Marshals Service;

(vi) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;

(vii) the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia;

(viii) the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland; and

(ix) the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Chairman of the Task Force may also select other departments, agencies, or components to participate as he deems necessary. Representatives of such other departments, agencies, or components shall be selected as such department, agency, or component determines.

(b) The Task Force may, to the extent permitted by law, request operational assistance from and coordinate with the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD), Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, United States Park Police, Amtrak Police, and other Federal and local officials as appropriate.

(c) The Task Force shall coordinate to ensure effective Federal participation in the following tasks:

(i) directing maximum enforcement of Federal immigration law and redirecting available Federal, State, or local law enforcement resources to apprehend and deport illegal aliens in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area;

(ii) monitoring the District of Columbia's sanctuary-city status and compliance with the enforcement of Federal immigration law;

(iii) providing assistance to facilitate the prompt and complete accreditation of the District of Columbia's forensic crime laboratory;

(iv) in collaboration with its leadership and union, providing MPD with assistance to facilitate the recruitment, retention, and capabilities of its police officers and to facilitate work with Federal personnel, resources, and expertise to reduce crime;

(v) collaborating with appropriate local government entities to provide assistance to increase the speed and lower the cost of processing concealed carry license requests in the District of Columbia;

(vi) reviewing and, as appropriate, revising Federal prosecutorial policies on seeking pretrial detention of criminal defendants to ensure that individuals who pose a genuine threat to public safety are detained to the maximum extent permitted by law;

(vii) collaborating with appropriate local government entities to provide assistance to end fare evasion and other crime within the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system; and

(viii) deploying a more robust Federal law enforcement presence and coordinating with local law enforcement to facilitate the deployment of a more robust local law enforcement presence as appropriate in areas in or about the District of Columbia, including in such areas as the National Mall and Memorial Parks, museums, monuments, Lafayette Park, Union Station, Rock Creek Park, Anacostia Park, the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the Suitland Parkway, and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and ensuring that all applicable quality of life, nuisance, and public-safety laws are strictly enforced, such as those prohibiting assault, battery, larceny, graffiti and other vandalism, unpermitted disturbances and demonstrations, noise, trespassing, public intoxication, drug possession, sale, and use, and traffic violations, including as prescribed by Executive Order 13933 of June 26, 2020 (Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence) [set out above], which was reinstated by Executive Order 14189 of January 29, 2025 (Celebrating America's 250th Birthday).

(d) The Task Force shall report to me as necessary through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor regarding safety in the District of Columbia, and the tasks set forth in subsection (c) of this section. As part of this reporting, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Task Force, shall assess whether public-safety circumstances in the District of Columbia require additional executive action.

Sec. 4. Making the District of Columbia Beautiful. (a) The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Transportation, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, the Administrator of General Services, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the heads of such other executive departments or agencies and local officials as the Secretary of the Interior deems appropriate, shall develop and implement a program to beautify and make safe and prosperous the District of Columbia.

(b) The program under subsection (a) of this section shall include, at a minimum, the following elements as appropriate and consistent with applicable law:

(i) a coordinated beautification plan for Federal and local facilities, monuments, land, parks, and roadways in and around the District of Columbia;

(ii) restoration of Federal public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that have been damaged or defaced, or inappropriately removed or changed, in recent years;

(iii) removal of graffiti from commonly visited areas, with local assistance;

(iv) proposals to ensure Federal buildings or lands adequately uplift and beautify public spaces and generate in the citizenry pride in and respect for our Nation;

(v) a coordinated Federal and local approach to ensure the cleanliness of public spaces, sidewalks, parks, highways, roads, and transit systems in and around the District of Columbia; and

(vi) the encouragement of private-sector participation in coordinated beautification and clean-up efforts in the District of Columbia.

(c) The Secretary of the Interior shall immediately issue a directive to the National Park Service requiring prompt removal and cleanup of all homeless or vagrant encampments and graffiti on Federal land within the District of Columbia subject to the National Park Service's jurisdiction, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Donald J. Trump.