Watchdog Group Details Park Police Staffing Shortage
posted 9:19 am Mon February 25, 2008 - WASHINGTON
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, found that the number of sworn officers on the force shrank to 576 at the end of January, the lowest level since 1987 and a decline of 49 since 2001. Details of the staffing shortage come weeks after a government report on the Park Police found that inadequate security has left national icons such as the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty vulnerable.
A spokesman for the National Park Service, which oversees the police, acknowledged that the force is short-handed and that new equipment is needed. David Barna says the Park Police received more than $3 million in 2007 for new gear, with $1 million more to come this year. By 2009, the number of officers is expected to increase to 630.--
Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com
Latest Comment on Watchdog Group Details Park Police Staffing Shortage
John61
4:33 pm on 02/26/08
Get the politics out of police work. Get a new chief who isn't afraid to tell it like it is, and please make them a great institution again. Politics have no business in law enforcement...It is a discrace to all American's to see what they have done to this institution. When you see a Park Officer, thank him for what he does and let him or her know that the American public is behind them....Then write your represenatives and let them know that you want this department straightened out.... Demand, Demand, Demand that they stop playing politics as usual
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