Who would handle civil disorder in Washington D.C.?

[Lumpy]

If a situation degenerates beyond the control of local police, states call in their National Guard. But afaik, D.C. doesn’t have a Guard. Federal troops?

[Ravenman]

Yes, DC has a National Guard. There are also interstate compacts which assure that other Guard units can be sent across borders to respond to emergencies.

[Donnerwetter]

There actually is a District of Columbia Army National Guard:

District of Columbia Army National Guard

It was activated during the 1968 Washington, D.C. riots.

[Toastmaker]

Exactly. the Air National Guard unit at Andrews AFB in Maryland, flying F-16’s and responsible for protective air cover of the D.C. region is a D.C. Guard unit, not Maryland .

[DinoR]

The National Guard piece has been covered (and it exists in territories too). At the law enforcement level, before the modern descendants of the militia would be called in, there are cross jurisdiction compacts allowing LEOs from outside jurisdiction to be utilized. I’m not sure if any are in place or specific laws related to DC or the surrounding states would even allow it but it seems like a possibility. Despite not being limited by Posse Commitatus National Guard are not law enforcement with all the powers of law enforcement. Actual law enforcement has some advantages.

[TriPolar]

When the Metropolitan Police get overwhelmed the Park Police step in first. Then as already mentioned the National Guard would step in. It wouldn’t be a tough decision for the President to call in the military if things got worse than those forces could handle.

[PastTense]

@TriPolar

It wouldn’t be a tough decision for the President to call in the military if things got worse than those forces could handle.

It depends on the reason for the civil disorder. Are you acquainted with the 1932 Bonus Army situation?

The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. …

Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Each service certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier’s promised payment plus compound interest. The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their certificates.

… On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. Veterans were also shot dead at other locations during the demonstration. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans’ campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

Bonus Army