Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, abbreviated as the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia (MPDC), or in general simply called the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and in the U.S. and D.C. codes referred to as the Metropolitan Police force, is the primary law enforcement agency of Washington, D.C. The MPD has a unique role among law enforcement in the United States in that it serves as a local police department, with county, state and federal responsibilities, and is under a municipal government but operates under federal authority.

The MPD was formed on August 6, 1861 by an act of the United States Congress. During its history it was involved in several notable cases including the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the assassination of President James A. Garfield, the 1968 Washington, D.C. riots, the September 11 attacks, and the Washington Navy Yard shooting. Today the MPD is one of the ten largest local police departments in the United States and is at the forefront of providing police services to the District through community policing and modern technology.