Capitol Police still lack clear steps for calling backup a year after riot, review finds
The Capitol Police and the department's governing board continue to lack "clear, documented procedures for all steps involved in obtaining outside assistance," according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Thursday.
On January 6, 2020, as the Capitol complex was overrun with rioters, Capitol Police struggled to secure outside backup due to obscure bureaucratic procedures, the report found.
Despite the passage of a bill in December that allows the Capitol Police chief to unilaterally request assistance from the National Guard and federal agencies, the report said that, "Capitol Police and the Board may be hampered in their ability to obtain aid quickly and effectively in the event of a future emergency" unless they define clear protocols for assessing and responding to crises.
Steven Sund, the Capitol Police chief at the time of the riot, asked the House or Senate sergeant at arms nine times during the riot to determine the situation had developed into an "emergency," so he could request assistance from the National Guard, according to the report. Paul Irving, the House sergeant at arms at the time, consulted with Congressional leadership before the Capitol Police Board, on which he sat, determined there was an emergency. Thirty minutes later, Sund sent a request for aid to the Defense Department. By that time, rioters had broken into the Capitol and had reached the doors to the Senate chamber.
"While the Board's Manual included general information about some of the authorities available for obtaining outside assistance, neither the Board nor the Capitol Police had clear procedures or guidance for when and how to use the different authorities to obtain outside assistance," the GAO report reads.
Sund resigned the day after the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The GAO found that the Capitol Police Board does not have a documented procedure for evaluating which Capitol vulnerabilities are deemed relevant enough for precautions to be implemented. The report also said that the Capitol Police's list of countermeasures lacks the specificity of the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) standard. For instance, the report notes that the list includes measures like "window protection," "locks," and "fencing," but it does not say the type of window protection, locks or fencing required for different scenarios.
In a letter to the GAO, Capitol Police chief Thomas Manger said he agreed with the recommendations directed to him, and that he had already taken steps to remedy the GAO's concerns, including instituting a new critical incident response plan that outlines the processes for requesting outside help last July. Manger said the department will create a standard operating document for those situations as well. He also wrote that Capitol Police are creating a new security coordination division to evaluate threats and assess risk and countermeasures according to standards set by Congress.
"The Department appreciates the review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. We agree with the recommendations, which we have already addressed," a Capitol Police spokesperson said in a statement.
The Capitol Police Board did not take a position on the recommendations, the report said.
The GAO previously made recommendations to Capitol Police last summer about the department's cooperation with auditing agencies.
The reports come after Congressman Jason Crow led a group of more than 100 lawmakers the day after the attack on the Capitol in requesting a GAO investigation into the security failures the prior day.
"Protecting the seat of our democracy is not a partisan issue and I look forward to working with my colleagues to help implement these recommendations," Crow said in a statement, "These brave men and women put their lives on the line every day to protect the Capitol — it's our responsibility to ensure they have the resources and a clear protocol in place so they can do their jobs."
