Retired Army General Russel Honore released a study of Capitol security after the January 6 attack and informed members of Congress about his team’s findings and recommendations on Monday.
The House is expected to incorporate Honore’s findings into a new funding bill to increase security around the campus and pay for some of the expenses incurred after January 6 – such as sending the National Guard and cleaning and repair costs.
Here are six main lessons from your report:
More Capitol Police
The report found that the Capitol Police were “understaffed, insufficient equipment and inadequate training” to protect the Capitol and its members on January 6. He suggested filling all vacancies in the force – about 233 police officers – and adding another 854 police officers to various functions, including as intelligence specialists, civil unrest units and dignitary protection agents.
If enacted, the additions would make the Capitol Police, which already has more than 2,000 police officers, one of the largest in the country.
To meet the Capitol’s security needs, officers worked nearly 720,000 overtime hours in fiscal year 2021, an “unsustainable” model for the department’s advancement.
In addition, the report recommended adding more explosive-sniffing K9 units to help the Capitol Police scan explosive devices in the Capitol complex, due to the number of empty units and “old” dogs. He also suggested reinstating the department’s assembled unit – which was decommissioned in 2005 – to serve as a “force multiplier” in high-traffic areas to help control crowds.
The report also recommended better training for police officers in policing tactics, as well as more opportunities for leadership development.
Honore’s team recommended using body cameras “to improve police accountability and protect officers from false accusations of misconduct” and more intelligence support for the department.
New rapid response team
The report calls for the creation of a permanent Rapid Reaction Force to help the Capitol Police and other DC law enforcement agencies respond to district crises and future Capitol emergencies – comprised of federal police or a military police battalion under the command of the National Guard of DC.
The report also recommended the creation of Civil Defense Units within the Capitol Police to be kept on hold when Congress is in session, and for all officers to be trained in civil unrest and their own shock equipment for use in emergency situations. emergency.
More barriers around the Capitol?
The report recommended a “mobile fence option” that can be set up and taken down quickly, in place of the temporary fence currently around the Capitol, which requires a “significant” number of personnel to patrol.
A retractable fencing system and a more integrated system of cameras, sensors and alarms can “allow for an open campus, while giving security forces better options to protect the complex and its members in the event of a threat,” the team wrote. review in the report.
Adjusting the chain of command
The report found that the Capitol Police Council’s decision-making process “proved too slow and complicated” to respond effectively on January 6, when National Guard troops took hours to reach the Capitol grounds to help the police cleaning the halls of Congress. He recommended allowing the Capitol Police Chief to enlist the help of the Federal Police and the National Guard in emergencies, without first needing the council’s signature – an opaque four-person corps that includes the Chief, the Capitol architect and the weapons sergeants House and Senate, nominated by congressional leaders.
The report also recommended an “independent review” of the effectiveness of the Capitol Police Council’s “authority” over the department.
Background checks and more difficult access points
Honore’s team recommended redesigning the screening procedures used on campus for legislative officials and Congressional officials.
“Requiring background checks for ID card holders and employing card readers more widely across the complex would lessen the risks of internal threats and increase the security of all members, officials and legislative officials,” according to the report.
The report also suggested repairing and protecting the doors and windows around the Capitol that were used by hooligans to break into the building and erect screening portals for officials and visitors around the complex to make it easier for the Capitol Police to monitor visitors who seek to enter the building.
Rethinking member security
Pointing to the growing number of threats to members of Congress, the report recommended expanding the ranks of the Dignity Protection Division to better protect lawmakers at home and in Washington. Currently, only leadership members have full-time security details.
The report also recommended the creation of a new office to “centrally manage” the travels of legislators in their district to the Capitol, in coordination with state and local law enforcement partners.
Prior to the report’s release, Republicans criticized the nomination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as an honorary for conducting the review, pointing to his increasingly partisan tone on Twitter and attacks against Republicans.
“While there may be some valuable recommendations to come, General Honore’s notorious party tendency questions the rationality of appointing him to lead this important security review,” said Republican Party leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., In a statement. on Sunday. “It also raises the unacceptable possibility that the Speaker would want a certain result: turning the Capitol into a fortress.”