WASHINGTON — The Capitol Police force has not made the majority of his post-Jan. 6 recommendations, the department’s inspector general told a House committee Thursday. More training and intelligence gathering to anticipate and protect against threats to Congress are among the most pressing needs, he said.
The government watchdog has released eight reports over the last 14 months looking at the law enforcement failures that contributed to thousands of Americans entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The public quickly questioned why Capitol Police seemed so ill prepared for the insurrection attempt, which sent representatives and senators scrambling for safety and delayed certification of the 2020 presidential election results for several hours. The House Administration Committee is examining structural changes that might be needed to how the department operates, and who has authority over it.
Inspector General Michael Bolton told committee members that just 39 of his more than 100 recommendations for improving the department have been implemented. Bolton said the department has increased intelligence briefings for rank and file officers and improved planning for large events but still lacks proper training and intelligence gathering.
Some of the recommendations will take additional time, money or manpower, Bolton said, adding that others haven’t been implemented because the Capitol Police chief does not agree they are necessary.
“There’s a variety of reasons,” Bolton said, “but they are at least working toward getting those recommendations closed.”
He said some of the recommendations are aimed at getting the department to make a cultural shift toward acting as a protective service, such as the Secret Service, and anticipate potential threats to members of Congress and the Capitol building.
“We need to quit thinking of ourselves as a police department. We are a protective agency,” he told lawmakers.
Members of Congress have complained that the department isn’t equipped to address the soaring number of threats they face in Washington and in their districts.
Capitol Police declined to comment on Thursday’s testimony but referred the Los Angeles Times back to the statement the department released when Bolton last testified before Congress in December, agreeing that additional training and other improvements are needed. Since that time, Bolton has released three additional reports.
Bolton’s findings were echoed in a separate, unrelated report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog agency tapped with investigating government spending and performance at Congress’ request.
The GAO found that the Capitol Police Board, made up of the House sergeant-at-arms, Senate sergeant-at-arms and Capitol architect, still has not developed a written procedure for when to obtain outside law enforcement help in case of an emergency, including who needs to sign off on the decision.
“The U.S. Capitol Police’s ... planning for January 6, 2021, did not reflect the potential for extreme violence aimed at the Capitol and did not include contingencies for support from other agencies,” the report states.
Multiple people have testified that the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms rejected the department’s Jan. 4 request to have the National Guard present on Jan. 6. Then, as Capitol Police were being overrun outside the building, and the police chief again requested aid from the National Guard, the Board sought approval from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., before asking the National Guard to intervene. It still isn’t clear whether they need that permission.
GAO also found that though the procedures are being created, the Capitol Police force does not have a standard method for assessing risks to the Capitol, and the Police Board does not have a clear, consistent method for deciding when to accept safety recommendations from the police chief. Capitol Police agreed with the report’s findings. The board did not take a position.
“Even after decades of attacks, the Capitol is no better prepared today than it was on January 6,” committee ranking member Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., said, placing the blame on Pelosi, the Police Board and Capitol Police leadership.
House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger and Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund all resigned after the insurrection.
House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, Calif., said that Bolton and his office will continue to monitor whether his recommendations are implemented.
The committee also heard from Daniel Schuman of independent good government watchdog group Demand Progress Education Fund, who said oversight of Capitol Police is inherently flawed because the agency’s governing board can easily fire the inspector general investigating internal problems. The inspector general does not have authority to investigate the board.
The Capitol Police Board, Capitol Police and the Police Inspector General fall under Congress’ exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and rarely make information about their decision-making process available to the public. Neither the full text of Bolton’s eight reports, nor other inspectors general reports of the department, have been released.
“We can only wonder whether there are preexisting IG recommendations unheeded by the Capitol Police that could have made a difference on Jan. 6,” Schuman said.
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