American tourists visiting national landmarks less safe after Parks Police quietly neglected
As left-wing leaders around the country pushed a movement to "defund" their local police departments, the U.S. Park Police (USPP) quietly saw staffing levels drop and a strain on resources behind the scenes as one of the country's oldest law enforcement agencies continues to ask for more resources, according to union leaders.
The agency, which primarily safeguards national monuments in Washington, D.C.; New York City; and San Francisco, is at its lowest staffing level since 1975, according to Ken Spencer, chairman of the United States Park Police Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
"At the officer level, it feels like it's almost deliberate, how bad they let our staffing get," he told Fox News Digital. "Days off are always canceled. Leave is canceled frequently. And the day-to-day operations [are] just absolutely unsafe for the mission that we have."
CRUZ BLASTS ‘INSUFFICIENT’ NATIONAL PARK SERVICE RESPONSE TO PRO-HAMAS RIOTS AT DC'S UNION STATION
Police officers are seen at Union Station near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 24, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. (Hu Yousong/Xinhua via Getty Images)
"In 1975, the U.S. Park Police had a total of 547 sworn officers nationwide," Spencer told Fox News Digital. "Today, we have 515, and that number continues to shrink. Despite our best efforts for years to highlight our critical staffing concerns, Congress, the Department of Interior and the National Park Service have not made any reasonable effort to address this crisis."
While the Parks Police have some allies in Congress, he said neither the Department of Interior nor the National Park Service (NPS) under the Biden administration have made appropriate adjustments following years of requests for relief.
"Our officers want the American people to know that there’s a draft bill in Congress that would fix our staffing crisis for decades to come," Spencer said. "Unfortunately, both parties have neglected the agency and the bill sits dormant. We hope this recent event will encourage members of Congress to force the Interior Department and the National Park Service to finally address this serious shortcoming in federal law enforcement. Immediate action is needed to ensure the safety of our officers and the public we serve."
Protesters burn an American flag outside of Union Station following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address during a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., on July 24. (Matthew Hatcher/AFP via )
Neither the Interior Department nor the NPS immediately responded to requests for comment. The FOP previously said both agencies have "stood in the way" of the legislation.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., sent a fiery letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday demanding she produce more resources for the USPP after an anti-Israel "mob of thousands" burned U.S. flags, vandalized landmarks and assaulted officers at Columbus Plaza in a violent July 24 protest that broke out in response to Israeli Prime MInister Bejamin Netanyahu's visit to Capitol Hill.
"It is with grave concern that I write to you once again about your failure to adequately address the criminal, violent actions of pro-terror, anti-Israel protesters on federal property," he wrote. "For the second time in two months, [USPP] officers have been left with inadequate resources and insufficient numbers of officers to defend the public and protect federal property from a malicious mob."
ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS STAGE MASSIVE PROTEST IN WASHINGTON, DC, AMID NETANYAHU'S US VISIT
The United States Park Police is attempting to identify the above individuals who were responsible for assaulting a police officer and vandalizing federal property at Columbus Circle in Washington, D.C., on July 24. (U.S. Park Police)
Park Police had only 29 officers available during the protest. Video circulating on social media shows some of the chaos as at least one protester attacks a USPP officer from behind.
That number was not enough to conduct the amount of arrests necessary to stop the chaos, Spencer told Fox News Digital.
"This latest episode in a string of violent uprisings on federal property in our nation’s capital is especially concerning given my repeated attempts to seek support for the USPP, which you have completely ignored," Barrasso wrote.
An antisemitic demonstrator sprays "Hamas" graffiti on the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on July 24, the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
The USPP made 10 arrests during the clash and is asking for the public's help identifying six more suspects involved in the chaos, whom they alleged assaulted an officer and damaged government property.
Barrasso had asked Haaland to address "alarming attrition rates, outdated pay scales and chronic staffing shortages" in another letter back in February.
"The incident at Union Station was the second time in two months the U.S. Park Police have faced violent protesters and hostile mobs. The Biden-Harris administration, operating on behalf of ‘defund the police’ dimwits, has left this police force high and dry. They have allowed its ranks to dwindle to the lowest level in nearly 50 years. The administration must do more to support law enforcement tasked with protecting our national treasures and symbols of democracy. It is only because of the officers’ swift and decisive actions that more people weren’t hurt and federal property wasn’t completely destroyed," Barrasso told Fox News Digital.
In a letter of his own, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked National Park Service Director Chuck Sams to explain the lack of USPP staffing during the same riot.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., take part in a news briefing in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 31, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"According to the USPP Union, only 29 [Park Police] officers were present to respond to the massive protest, even as the situation rapidly and foreseeably deteriorated into a riot," he wrote. "This contrasts with the preparations undertaken by another entity whose resources foreseeably would be strained: Amtrak Police made arrangements to quintuple its police presence at Union Station and get additional resources."
Demonstration organizers applied for a permit of 5,000 protesters, Cruz wrote, outnumbering police by about 200 to one.
"With USPP resources stretched thin, NPS and the Department of the Interior should have requested additional support from other law enforcement agencies in the region, as U.S. Capitol Police and Amtrak had done," Cruz wrote. "Moreover, while the USPP union is concerned about budgetary constraints, it seems that NPS could have paid for more officers in anticipation of this event."
U.S. Park Police officers react while removing a handcuffed demonstrator at a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, D.C., on July 24. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
In a statement earlier this month, the USPP FOP warned that the understaffing problems endanger not just officers and members of the public, but also national landmarks.
The agency has just 515 officers across the nation and is responsible for patrolling federal landmarks in and around New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
A U.S. Park Police officer points her pepper spray can at a demonstrator during a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, D.C., on July 24. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
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The Park Police are also responsible for Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York — federal property where thousands of migrants are being sheltered. The USPP has just two officers available to police the shelter, which has caused an uptick in crime in the surrounding community, Spencer said.
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