Sgt. Carlos Bundy, a 28-year veteran of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, has blown the whistle on a scandal that reeks of bureaucratic deceit. In a 2021 lawsuit, he alleges MPD brass deliberately misclassified homicides as accidents to slash reported murder rates, painting a false picture of safety in the nation’s capital, as the Washington Free Beacon reports. This isn’t just pencil-pushing gone wrong -- it’s a betrayal of public trust.
Bundy, who worked in MPD’s homicide unit from 2010 to 2018, claims superiors manipulated crime stats by labeling unnatural deaths as “accidents” or “undetermined” to keep homicide numbers down. His lawsuit, filed after years of witnessing this alleged fraud, is set for a mediation hearing in 2024. The accusations suggest a department more concerned with optics than justice.
Bundy’s tenure in the homicide unit gave him a front-row seat to the alleged cover-up. After joining the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force in 2018, he raised concerns about the misclassifications, only to face retaliation. Denied days off and slapped with lower evaluation scores, Bundy’s courage was met with bureaucratic bullying.
Other officers echoed Bundy’s claims, accusing MPD leaders of downgrading thefts and aggravated assaults to lesser offenses. Former Sgt. Charlotte Djossou’s separate whistleblower lawsuit, settled by D.C., alleged that felonies were routinely rebranded as misdemeanors to “distort crime statistics.” This pattern points to a systemic effort to sanitize the city’s crime problem.
In one chilling case, a man killed on Nov. 29, 2019, by a brick to the head was deemed an “accident” by MPD, despite autopsy reports, crime scene video, and cell phone data screaming homicide. Bundy called this a “falsely and fraudulently reported” death, letting a killer walk free. Progressive spin can’t whitewash evidence like that.
Another incident in October 2020 saw a man beaten to death in Southeast D.C., yet MPD labeled it “undetermined” despite an autopsy confirming homicide by blunt force. Bundy’s lawsuit slams this as “improperly and fraudulently classified,” exposing a department allegedly more interested in stats than solving crimes. This isn’t public safety -- it’s public deception.
On May 2, 2021, a man shot dead was swiftly cleared by MPD as “justifiable” by a citizen, with no investigation, despite security footage telling a different story. Bundy called it a rush job, done “on the very same day, without any objective investigation.” Such haste smells of a cover-up, not competence.
In January 2021, a woman found strangled on a bike trail was initially tagged as a death of “unknown cause” by MPD. An autopsy a month later confirmed homicide, but Bundy claims the delay meant “valuable and key evidence was most likely lost, and a murderer was left to roam the streets.” That’s not policing; it’s negligence.
Bundy’s lawsuit argues these misclassifications are a “danger to public safety” by “allowing murderers to remain on the street.” His words cut through the fog of bureaucratic excuses. If killers are free because of fudged numbers, D.C.’s streets are far from safe.
Democrat leaders like Hillary Clinton and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tout a 27% drop in violent crime and an 11% drop in homicides, per MPD’s rosy stats. These figures, parroted by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Politico, fueled their opposition to President Donald Trump’s recent National Guard deployment. But if Bundy’s right, those stats are as reliable as a used car salesman’s pitch.
President Trump, not buying the narrative, deployed the National Guard last week to tackle what he called an “epidemic of crime” in D.C. He blasted the city’s “fake crime numbers” that “create a false illusion of safety.” His critics may scoff, but Bundy’s allegations lend weight to Trump’s concerns.
MPD’s response? Silence. The department punted inquiries to the D.C. Attorney General’s office, which, along with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office, went radio silent when pressed for comment. Dodging accountability while crime stats are allegedly cooked doesn’t inspire confidence.
The Department of Justice has now launched an investigation into MPD’s alleged misclassification practices. This probe could finally force the department to face the music for what Bundy calls “purposely misled” reporting on homicide rates. Justice delayed is better than justice denied.
Bundy and his lawyer didn’t respond to the Washington Free Beacon’s requests for comment, leaving the lawsuit to speak for itself. The allegations paint a grim picture of a department prioritizing image over integrity. D.C. residents deserve better than manipulated numbers and unpunished killers.
If Bundy’s claims hold up, MPD’s statistics are a house of cards, and the public has been played. The truth about D.C.’s crime wave isn’t in glossy reports -- it’s in the bodies mislabeled to keep the progressive narrative afloat. This scandal demands answers, not more spin.
