The U. S. Capitol Police said Monday it needs to hire more officers, agreeing with one of major recommendations by a panel tasked with reviewing the security failures that led to the Jan. 6 riot.
“We need to increase our manpower and overall response capabilities,” the Capitol Police said in a statement.
The statement comes after a task force led by retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore concluded the department needed to hire hundreds more officers and create a quick-reaction force.
The task force recommended the Capitol Police hire 854 officers to their current staff of roughly 2,000,
The task force’s report was issued to lawmakers Friday. Members of the panel will host three bipartisan briefing sessions with lawmakers starting Monday.
During its six-week review, the task force flagged several shortcomings it believed contributed to the Capitol attack.
Officers were understaffed and under-resourced, left without access to riot gear and earpieces, the report found.
The report also concluded the department doesn’t have the scale to do the intelligence gathering be necessary to stop an attack with the scope of what occurred on Jan. 6.
“The USCP is not postured to track, assess, plan against, or respond to this plethora of threats due to significant capacity shortfalls, inadequate training, immature processes, and an operating culture that is not intelligence-driven,” the report said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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