Capitol Police chief says force remains short-staffed
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U.S. Capitol Police chief Tom Manger said that nearly a year on from the deadly Capitol riot, the force remains critically short-staffed.
Why it matters: Manger described the staffing issues as "the biggest problem that we face today" in an interview with "Fox News Sunday."
Catch up quick: Last month, USCP Inspector General Michael Bolton told a Senate panel that about 200 officers have left the force since the deadly riot.
- Within months of the insurrection, a union chief said USCP was facing dwindling numbers and low morale, adding later that it would potentially take years to hire and train more officers to recoup its ranks.
What they're saying: “The one thing that we have not been able to fix, so to speak, are the staffing issues," Manger said.
- "We lost over 130 officers that have left through either retirements or resignations after January 6th. The prior year, in 2020, the national federal law enforcement training academy was shut down for 10 months because of COVID," Manger explained.
- "So between not being able to put any academy classes through the prior year, with the attrition the way it's been over the past year, we are now really about 400 officers short of where we need to be."
The big picture: Manger added that the force is moving forward with plans to enlist contract security officers for secondary positions and offer additional training academy sessions to help relieve the shortage.
- He added that new legislation allowing USCP to request assistance from the D.C. National Guard in case of emergency will also be beneficial to the force.
- "The fact that we have formal processes in place to get additional resources from area law enforcement agencies is a big improvement, and we — we believe it would have prevented something like January 6th from happening," Manger said.
