US Capitol Police chief details 700 threats against members of Congress in one month • Ohio Capital Journal

WASHINGTON – US Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger testified Wednesday that more than 700 threats against members of Congress were made in the past month alone, with at least 50 cases of people making fake 911 calls in an attempt to get police teams to to respond to lawmakers’ homes, often called “swatting.”

Manger, who took over the police department after the Jan. 6 attack, said the agency has done a relatively good job of beefing up security at the Capitol building over the past few years, but needs more officers and money to address legislators’ safety when they are at home or at offsite events.

Manger pointed to the dignitary protection department, which is responsible for keeping congressional leaders safe wherever they go, as “woefully understaffed.”

“We provide the level of protection we need to. But you do that through officers who work double shifts and average … 50 hours of overtime every pay period,” Manger said.

The division, which protects the leadership, currently has about 250 officers, but Manger pushed for that to be doubled to at least 500.

“And not only can we provide protection for management 24/7, but when we have people who have threats against them that require us to stand up for temporary details, we can do that,” Manger said. “Because right now, when we do that, we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. We tear someone off another detail to raise a detail to help someone in a temporary threat situation.”

There are numerous situations, he testified, where if the USCP had more officers, it could better protect lawmakers both on and off Capitol Hill. For example, the USCP needs more than the 20 or so agents it currently has to investigate threats against members of Congress.

Woman in Georgia killed

Threats against lawmakers have been on the rise for years, but have increasingly serious consequences. Just this week a woman in Georgia was killed in what local police described as a “tragic chain of events” after an email falsely claimed there was a bomb in the mailbox of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s home there.

Manger said under consultation in the Senate Rules Committee that lawmakers need to raise the USCP’s spending levels to allow it to continue holding 12 recruiting classes a year of 25 officers each for the next few years.

The mandatory retirement age for the USCP should also be raised from 60 to 65 to match the “tweak” the Secret Service has that allows it to keep senior officers working above the 57-year cap for federal law enforcement, which Manger called “disgraceful ” because he thinks it’s too low.

“We have people who are at the peak of their careers at that age and they have to go. And so, you know, I’ve been able to get the Capitol Police Board to agree to extend that to the age of 60. And I have several officers that I’ve talked to in the last month who are turning 60. and they said, ‘Chief, I don’t want to go,'” Manger said. And you look at them, and they look like they’re 35 and they can definitely still do the job, physically, mentally, and they’re some of the best cops you’d ever want to work with. But I have no ability to hold onto them.”

Last updated at 17.55 on 11 December 2024