See Trump’s Deployment of the National Guard, Other Federal Agents in Washington, D.C.

President Trump has overseen an expansive effort this month to take control of law enforcement in Washington, carrying out a conspicuous show of force in the nation’s capital in what he has described as an effort to combat crime.

The most attention-grabbing component of that takeover has been his initial deployment of more than 800 D.C. National Guard troops, with another 1,000 coming from Republican-led states. That deployment, echoing Mr. Trump’s deployment of Guard troops in California to support immigration raids earlier this year, has been part of a wider effort by the president to meld military operations with domestic law enforcement, particularly in his immigration crackdown.

But so far, the National Guard has operated primarily in a support role in Washington. Guardsmen deployed in the city have mostly stayed in tourist-heavy areas near national monuments and transit hubs, and have so far done little to directly enforce the law. There have been some exceptions: National Guard lawyers have been transferred to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, essentially acting as low-level civilian prosecutors.

Those agents have roamed the district on patrol, set up checkpoints to stop and search vehicles and have occasionally evicted homeless people from city streets in a highly visible effort to make arrests and project the administration’s show of force. The White House has lauded their efforts in daily news releases, tallying more than 600 arrests over a two-week period — many of them for immigration violations. In the last two weeks before Mr. Trump commandeered the city’s police, 1,182 arrests were made.

Mr. Trump has justified the show of force primarily as a crackdown on crime, using apocalyptic language to portray Washington in the throes of violent anarchy. Crime data show that violent crime in the district is at a 30-year low, and the Trump administration has cited a drop in the first third of the year. Federal agents so far have not focused on areas with the highest crime rates.

The White House has also declined to say how much the operation has cost. By its count, some 2,000 National Guardsmen and law enforcement agents are participating in the effort. A Defense Department official estimated earlier this year that the National Guard deployment in California, including about 5,000 Guardsmen and Marines, would cost $134 million over 60 days.

The New York Times has identified at least eight federal agencies operating alongside units that normally operate in the city, like the Capitol Police and Metro Transit Police. Those eight agencies are the F.B.I.; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Border Patrol; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Secret Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the U.S. Marshals. Park Police officers, who normally patrol federal parks in the District of Columbia, have also been seen in various locations around the city.

Times journalists reviewed hundreds of images and videos of law enforcement officials to determine where agents and troops have been deployed and what they have been doing on the ground.

Here’s what we know:

Federal agents are assisting local police with arrests

Aug. 17, 14th Street Corridor

For the last two weeks, federal agents have patrolled Washington, usually in teams of four or more, assisting the city’s Metropolitan Police Department in most law enforcement duties. This has meant traffic stops and responding to routine calls for help, but they have also led more focused hunts for illegal guns, stolen vehicles and illicit drugs in an effort to adhere to Mr. Trump’s order to crack down on crime.

In a statement announcing the initial surge of agents into Washington, the White House said that agents “will be identified, in marked units and highly visible.” But many agents wear masks or other facial coverings that prevent them from being easily identifiable. Others wear vests that do not indicate which agency they work for, labeled only “police” or “federal agent.” Still others operate behind tinted windows in unmarked cars.

Officers are setting up checkpoints and conducting sobriety tests

Aug. 20, Columbia Heights

Federal agents have pursued a kind of “broken windows” policing strategy while stopping people, seemingly at random, at vehicle checkpoints in the city. They check for small irregularities with the cars they stop: a broken taillight, for example, or invalid temporary license plates or plates that don’t match the vehicle registration. They also look for other minor offenses while interacting with drivers and passengers that could justify a more thorough search or arrest.

In one incident on Wednesday evening, a man who was driving home from work wearing a FedEx shirt was pulled over by Park Police because his plates did not match his vehicle registration. After federal agents spent more than 15 minutes interrogating him, they found a half-empty beer bottle in his car, triggering a field sobriety test. They eventually poured the contents of the bottle into a nearby flower bed, upsetting protesters, and sent the man home with a warning. Similar stops have happened routinely in other areas of the city over the last two weeks.

Agents are also conducting immigration arrests

Aug. 15, navy yard

Federal agents have arrested people suspected of being undocumented immigrants at improvised checkpoints in high-traffic areas of the city such as the nightlife corridor north of the White House on 14th Street, as well as near the baseball stadium at Navy Yard.

Of the 630 arrests made so far, according to the White House, 251 were suspected to be undocumented immigrants. The White House highlighted an unspecified number of cases where those arrested had outstanding warrants and convictions for violent crimes and drugs, but most of the arrests of immigrants appeared to be for immigration violations.

It is not unusual for federal law enforcement agents to conduct immigration arrests, but the city government has policies in place that bar police from most collaboration with federal immigration authorities. But Attorney General Pam Bondi is seeking to end those policies, and while the issue is being contested in court, a federal judge has allowed the administration to require the city’s help on immigration enforcement for now.

The National Guard is deployed away from the police effort

The national mall, union station

The total number of National Guardsmen in Washington is expected to rise to nearly 2,000 in coming days. Their presence has been highly visible, focused on the National Mall and transit hubs like metro stations and Union Station.

They are not making arrests “at this time,” according to the White House, and are not currently armed — although the White House and the Guard have also indicated that could change, saying that the troops “may be armed, consistent with their mission and training.”

Zach Montague contributed reporting.