Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home, where her husband was violently attacked in October, last underwent a security review in 2018, Capitol Police have said.
US Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger told CNN on Tuesday that the agency had not performed an assessment in the last four years.
Members of Congress have been pressing Capitol police for answers following the 28 October hammer attack on Mr Pelosi, during which the suspect was looking for the speaker, court documents state. Ms Pelosi was in Washington DC at the time of the violent assault.
The chair of the House Administration Committee, California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, wrote a letter last month requesting answers from the Capitol Police about the security problems at the Pelosi home that allowed the attack to take place, CNN reported.
It’s not clear what Capitol Police recommended at the time of the 2018 security review and what received congressional approval to be put in place.
Capitol Police have performed a security review of the home after the attack and in future, they will take place more frequently, Chief Manger told CNN.
“Anytime there’s a change in leadership position, we will do an updated assessment,” he said, adding that members of Congress can also request that security reviews.
Henry Connelly, Ms Pelosi’s director of communications, told CNN that the speaker’s office wouldn’t comment on security issues.
Last year, Capitol Police opened 632 threat cases connected to the speaker, Ms Lofgren’s letter stated. That accounts for more than six per cent of all cases opened by the agency.
The letter also stated that at least 24 of those cases were referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
“We had more folks focused on her safety than any other member of Congress because of the number of threats that she had,” Chief Manger told CNN.
Democrats are set to lose control of the House in January after the GOP win in last month’s midterms. Ms Pelosi chose to not stay on in the Democratic leadership after the current Congress wraps up.
Chief Manger said that Capitol Police has to improve the “security posture” for anyone holding the position of speaker or anyone who’s the subject of the level of threats as Ms Pelosi.
“The level of violence in our country directed toward political officials, government officials, it’s really at a point where I think that it’s as dangerous as it’s ever been to be an elected official,” Chief Manger said.
He added that Capitol Police is looking at ways to “beef up” security for Members of Congress when they’re in Washington, DC as well as in their home districts, but he chose not to share any details.
Chief Manger noted that a consistent worry is making sure lawmakers are safe while in their home states.
“We’ve got to make sure that we do a better job at working with the state and local police to put things in place ahead of time, not wait for a crisis, not wait for a threat,” he said.
Capitol Police has hired 280 officers this year as well as between 40 and 50 unarmed guards checking badges and credentials inside the US Capitol.
But the chief noted that the agency can’t control the threat levels that lawmakers face.
“It’s just the sheer volume of what we’re dealing with now versus what we dealt with years ago,” he told CNN. “I’m not so sure that the Capitol Police can do a lot to tamp that down. So our responsibility is we’ve just got to deal with the growing number.”
