Rank-and-file members of the U.S. Park Police feel they are understaffed, under-equipped and under-funded in their efforts to protect some of the most visible symbols of American democracy, a new survey found.
The Fraternal Order of Police surveyed 179 Park Police officers. It found that more than 90 percent of those officers think they don’t have enough staff, equipment or funds to do their jobs appropriately. Asked whether they had enough equipment to handle a terrorist attack, 96 percent of the officers said they did not, according to the survey.
The survey results were made public by the Web site of a group of environmentalist-oriented government employees.
Park Police spokesman Lt. Scott Fear declined comment.
“Members of the Motorcycle Unit have purchased motorcycle parts out of pocket to keep their motorcycles running to meet their responsibilities,” FOP chair Jim Austin wrote in a Jan. 6 letter to his supervisors. “One canine handler had to pay out of pocket fees for kenneling.”
According to the union, Park Police’s funding is at a 20-year low and the department has canceled training classes for new recruits.
This is not the first time the Park Police have been assailed from within. In 2003, then-police chief Teresa Chambers complained publicly that she wasn’t given the resources to do her job. She was promptly fired.
Last summer, the Park Police again were blasted after a series of violent crimes on the Mall. The District’s non-voting Congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, was among the most vocal critics of the department.
FOP President Lou Cannon has said that the Park Police were demoralized by Congressional criticism and Chambers’ firing. He said that few officers are willing to speak publicly about the problems.
“No one wants to be the next Teresa Chambers,” Cannon said.
Anyone with information on the Park Police can call 202-459-4956.
