United States Capitol Police

United States Capitol Police Department - USCP -
State level	Federal level
Position of the authority	Police Department / US Federal law enforcement agency
Supervisory authority (s)	Capitol Police Board
Consist	since 1828
Headquarters	Washington, DC
Chief of Police	Matthew R. Verderosa
Employee	1700
Website	www.uscp.gov

USCP (Ford Crown Victoria) uniformed patrol car

United States Capitol Police bike

The United States Capitol Police Department (USCP) is a US federal police force that is primarily responsible for the US Congress and the Capitol grounds in the Washington District of Columbia . Its primary role is to protect the United States legislature, the Senate and House Congress, and its members.

history

In 1800, the federal government of the United States of America moved from Philadelphia to Washington. The area, first called Federal City , later District of Columbia , was guarded from 1801 by John Golding for an annual salary of $ 351.75. Without a right of arrest, he was dependent on the assistance of marines. After a fire in the Library of Congress and an attack on one of his sons, President John Quincy Adams decided in 1824 to increase the number of guards to four.

In 1828 the United States Capitol Police was founded, which owned all police rights. At that time, it consisted of the four guards and some members of the community police. At that time, however, one was only armed with batons. After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the USCP received uniforms . At that time it consisted of 39 people, including a captain, three lieutenants and eight sergeants. In 1998, on July 24, there was an exchange of fire in the Capitol document room in which US Capitol Police Officer Jacob J. Chestnut and US Capitol Police Special Agent John M. Gibson died.

construction

While the USCP in 2001 still consisted of approx. 1,300 police officers (including approx. 300 women), there are currently approx. 1,700 police officers working there. A large part of the USCP works in uniform as a pedestrian, bicycle or vehicle patrol, security post or in traffic surveillance.

The police are headed by the Inspector General (IG). The current head of the agency is Carl W. Hoecker, Inspector General (IG). The incumbent also heads the Office of Inspector General (OIG) with the Office of Audits and the Office of Investigations .

The following departments are also available:

• Protective Service - Personal protection for congress members
• Criminal Investigations - criminal investigation department
• Drug Enforcement
• K-9 - dog relay
• Capitol Emergency Response Team (CERT) - Special Operations Command

The police are under the supervision of the Capitol Police Board .

Armament

Until 1992 revolvers were operated by the USCP . Then the semi-automatic pistols Smith & Wesson Model 5946 and Model 6946 (compact version for concealed carrying) were introduced. Both weapons had Double Action Only triggers and the 9 mm Parabellum caliber . In 1999 they not only changed the pistol model, but also the caliber. According to the trade press, this step was probably taken after the 9mm ammunition failed to immediately stop the gunman in the 1998 firefight.

After a selection test, the Glock 22 in caliber .40 S&W was introduced. The weapons have a grip with finger recesses, an enlarged slide catch lever and magazine release button as well as a tritium sight . The USCP logo is also engraved on the sled. There are also Benelli 90 M1 self-loading shotguns in 12/76 caliber and around 100 HK G36 rapid-fire rifles from the German manufacturer Heckler & Koch . Also from Heckler & Koch are the submachine guns of the type MP5 , which since 1999 are no longer available in caliber 9 mm Parabellum, but in .40 S&W. The police officers are also equipped with pepper spray and batons .

Exchange of fire on July 24, 1998

On July 24, 1998, USCP officers Jacob Chestnut and Douglas McMillan were deployed on the eastern front of the Capitol to operate the X-ray machine and metal detector in the document room. At the same time, Special Agent John M. Gibson was in the nearby rooms of the House of Representatives Tom Delay . Russell Weston entered the building at around 3:40 pm. While Chestnut was writing directions for two tourists and McMillan was showing another tourist the way to the toilets, Weston circled the metal detector. Chestnut saw this and asked him to go through the metal detector. At that moment, Weston pulled a revolver in caliber .38 S & W and shot Chestnut in the head.

Several shots from McMillan failed to stop Weston. When Weston followed a woman, he approached Thomas Delay's offices. This had left Special Agent Gibson and tried to get those present to safety. When he saw two people coming out of Delay's office, he threw himself between them and the attacker and fired at Weston. His shots stopped Weston, but he was fatally hit by him at the same time. Weston survived and was admitted to psychiatric treatment by court order.

See also

• Library of Congress Police

Web links

Commons : United States Capitol Police  - Collection of images

• US Capitol Police (English)

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1. ↑ United States Capitol Police - Executive Team (Engl.). Accessed July 10, 2018.
2. ↑ Furthermore for all areas of the USA and its outer areas , provided there are vulnerable members, employees or their relatives there ( www.uscapitolpolice.gov - Home (Engl.), Last paragraph, accessed on January 10, 2009)
3. ↑ Legal basis: Public Law 109-55 of August 2, 2005 ^{Text (PDF; 25 kB) ( Memento of January 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive )}
4. ↑ www.uscapitolpolice.gov - Office of Inspector General ( Memento of May 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 10, 2009.