After protesters supporting President Trump broke into the Capitol in Washington, DC on the 6th (local time), congressional police, responsible for security and security, have been in the midst of the insolvent response responsibility.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 7th, parliamentary police have expanded their careers from 800 people to 2,000 since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, with an annual budget of $460 million.
This is equivalent to the manpower of metropolitan police stations such as Atlanta and Cleveland, but faces criticism that the intrusion was helpless.
The congressional police installed low barriers and wore uniforms rather than riot suppression equipment even though large-scale protests took place near the parliament.
This is a different response from the principle of installing multiple layers of protection lines from points far from the building to be protected.
Some say they were ready to stop the protests, but they weren’t ready to deter the attack.
Even a video posted on social media features a police officer taking a’selfie’ with a protester, and even opening up a security barrier for the protesters to get closer.
There is also a figure holding the hand of a woman who helped her to hold the center on the stairs of the Capitol.
The result was protesters invading the Capitol, leading to chaos in which lawmakers stopped meetings and evacuated to the extent that the terms rebellion and riots came out.
“It was like watching a horror movie,” said Kim Dain, former congressional police chief, and “I don’t understand how to train and plan every day to prevent this from happening.”
The WP’s assessment is that this response is in striking contrast to past threats near the Capitol.
In 2013, the congressional police fired a vehicle believed to have struck a security barrier, killing a driver.
It was not expected that large-scale protesters would intrude into Congress by force, and accordingly, it is pointed out that the cause of this was the negligence of preparation.
It is also evaluated that the passive change in the repression after protests against racial discrimination triggered in the death of a black man last summer had an effect.
Congressional police said they requested assistance from the Washington DC police and the State National Guard only after one protester broke the window of Congress and went inside and opened the door for other protesters to enter.
Rep. Tim Ryan, chairman of the House Committee overseeing the congressional police budget, predicted that officials would be dismissed, saying “there shouldn’t be anyone near the Capitol.”
Congressman Joe Lopgren, chairman of the House Executive Committee, also said the intrusion raised serious security concerns and will review police response and readiness.
Law enforcement officials are concerned, the WP said, as this incident left a dangerous precedent that gave the impression that protesters could block Congress and that Congressional expenses were weak.
The Secret Service (SS), responsible for protecting the president, is said to have begun reevaluating the security plan for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony on the 20th.
The inauguration ceremony is held in Congress.
However, congressional police chief Stephen Sund made a statement and admitted that the police acted bravely, saying the incident was unlike anything that had been experienced in the past 30 years, such as attacking protesters with iron pipes and chemicals.
(Photo = Getty Image Korea)