DC police captain’s email on avoiding arrests rescinded by MPD brass
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This week, a political storm erupted in Washington, D.C., after an internal police email emerged chastising rank-and-file officers for body camera footage that purported to show “mastery.”[ing]“This is a way to make an arrest on reasonable grounds.
The news comes as the Trump administration cracks down on federal crime in the District of Columbia. While crime rates are increasing has decreased steadily Since a peak in 2023, the nation’s capital continues to suffer per capita violent crime rates above the national average, according to FBI data.
The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that senior commanders rescinded an email sent by the captain for Sector 2 of the Sixth Police District, which covers north of Marion Barry Boulevard and east of the John Philip Sousa Bridge.
“We are seeing more and more BWC [body-worn cameras] Where officers are not making arrests due to probable cause or RAS [reasonable amount of suspicion] is open. This leads to complaints being filed with the IAD (internal affairs division) and the OPC, and also leaves victims and complainants unprotected by the police,” wrote Capt. Jerome Merrill.
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Police officers secure the area with crime scene tape following a shooting in downtown Washington, DC, on November 26, 2025. Two National Guard members were shot near the White House and police detained a suspect. A spokesman said former President Donald Trump was briefed on the situation. (Drew Angerer/AFP)
Merrill’s letter, first Washington’s CBS affiliateHe said this gets many police officers in trouble because they fail to recognize or correct the classification of interactions with the public.
“Please do not try to evade an arrest, I assure you it is not worth the consequences,” the memo said, calling on police to make arrests or apply for a warrant without detectives having to follow them.
The department told Fox News Digital that the information in the email was “inaccurate” and that MPD was investigating.
When asked about the situation and whether arrests could be made based on reasonable suspicion in any context, former Supreme Court Police Chief Ross Swope told Fox News Digital that this distinction “is not only typical of most departments, but is also due to the law.”
Swope, who served at MPD for decades and later wrote texts on police ethics and internal operations, said probable cause requires more than reasonable suspicion.
“It requires a higher degree of precision,” he said. “[Probable cause] It is a situation where facts and circumstances within the knowledge of a police officer would lead a reasonable person to believe that an offense has been committed for which immediate arrest may be warranted.”
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He said Merrill may have seen the body cameras and that it was his opinion that the arrests should have been made, but that he was wrong to instruct officers to make arrests based solely on reasonable suspicion.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the DC Police Association for comment but did not receive a response.
But union president Gregg Pemberton told the CBS affiliate that he actually agreed with Swope independently.
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“The union reviewed Captain Merrill’s email and determined that the reason our members did not make arrests based on reasonable, clear suspicion was because it was illegal,” Pemberton said in a statement to the press. he said.
“We would expect a police patrol district captain to know this, but unfortunately this command staff official has proven himself to be uninformed and incompetent in directing police operations in the District of Columbia,” he added.
