Picking on the U.S. Capitol Police Again?
Karen Bune
Victimology Contributor
Officer.com
Some things just never change. Once again, the United States Capitol Police is beleaguered with criticism of its management, leadership, personnel, policies, accountability, and other issues. It seems as though no one can ever be fully satisfied with the day-to-day operation of this important police force that is responsible for the safety and security of the nation’s Capitol and the workers and visitors who frequent the compound.
When former U. S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer (now current Senate Sergeant-at-Arms) led the force, he did so with dedication, diligence, and a high degree of professionalism. Having been labeled by many as a “cop’s cop” who had an open door policy and interacted well with his officers who liked and respected him, he was subjected to constant criticism and attempts at micromanagement by a lot of politicians who, for the most part, did not understand the reality of what he was dealing with. When he instituted a horse mounted unit, it was successful but short lived. Thanks to the political maneuvering of a group of politicians led by Virginia Congressman James Moran, Jr. (D-VA), the unit was disbanded after only 14 months in existence. For the U. S. Capitol Police, the wheel of misfortune seems to be a constant spin of taking away that which works and is most beneficial for the functioning and performance of the police force.
Now, again, the department is in the limelight of criticism. The current Chief, Philip Morse, is being attacked by politicians who advocate there is little or no accountability and that blunders were made in the hiring of 15 recruits who do not have squeaky clean backgrounds that meet employment criteria. There are also issues related to outdated and non-integrated and compatible radio communications systems.
Sergeant-at-Arms Gainer, who has 40 years of law enforcement experience behind him and whose perspective is based in reality, supports Morse and asserts there are measures of accountability in place. Apparently, however, members of Congress are dissatisfied and have a bone to pick with the U. S. Capitol Police and its management. Therefore, the Senate Rules Committee is holding a hearing on July 16, 2008 to determine what, in their minds, is ailing the U. S. Capitol Police.
Meanwhile, officers on the force continue to try to do their jobs and focus on their priorities of what is genuinely important to the public safety of the U. S. Capitol. No one should ever underestimate or discount their abilities in conducting themselves professionally. They employ a high degree of expertise coupled with specialized skills. In addition, they have been trained to deal with the multi-faceted and unique issues that confront the challenges of minimizing threats and maintaining public safety on Capitol Hill. The continuous nit-picking and backbiting, however, wears thin on officers who just want to be left alone to do their jobs that they are ably ready to do.
The members of the Senate Rules Committee should take a word of advice. They should listen– with open minds devoid of preconceived notions and biased outlooks–to what the seasoned Sergeant-at-Arms Gainer has to say and, along with the feedback of Chief Morse, they should heed the words of these officials carefully. Gainer has the right answers to the tough questions combined with the know-how of what to do and when. The politicians, therefore, need to recognize that any department, on occasion, can make mistakes but, at the same time, they need to jump off the train of constant criticism and let the police run their own show.
I think Karen makes an excellent point about politicians sometimes spending too much time trying to “fix” police departments. Nothing is perfect. Cops do a difficult job under difficult conditions to meet near impossible demands. Of course, when you’re trying to get re-elected I guess reality doesn’t much enter into the equation, huh?
The politicians, especially a hot head like Moran, are probably still having whinney fits over the smack-down that ex-Congresswoman McKinney got when she struck the Capitol Police Officer, then lost her election right afterwards. The socialist Democrats we have in the Congress can’t stand to lose, so now it’s payback time in the little things, like the Capitol Police.
I have to wonder why the most important jobs in the world today are performed by the least paid. We have athletes, actors, singers etc that make millions of dollars a year and they are often in the news disrespecting people, drunk, using drugs, and bad mouthing this great country. The people that protect the very rights that allow them to make such a living, are underpaid and live at or near the poverty level. Law enforcement, military, fire departments, emergency medical personnel and school teachers do amazing jobs with the worst of budgets. Imagine what a real police department could do with the budget of one season of CSI. Imagine how our troops would feel if they had the equipment of the silver screen soldiers. Now understand that one of these so called actors, athletes, etc will spend a half million dollars on a car or a house, but cannot be persuaded to support the local FOP to buy vests for the police. They drive drunk, use drugs, and when they get arrested, bad mouth and insult the police that catch them. Thses same people, scream and yell and demand their rights if they feel slightly wronged and expect the same police, fire dept or medics to hurry to their aid in time of crisis.
I often wonder why our society prizes those hollowwood types over the people that keep them safe at night.
The same goes for the Capitol Hill gang, they fight to take away our weapons, the very right bestowed by our own bill of rights, all the while traveling with armed security force. The expect the security details to take a bullet for them, but will not vote to increase budgets to raise the salaries of those protecting them but will vote themselves a raise on a regular basis.
I have yet to figure it out. Can someone explain it to me?
We feed our local firehouse on a regular basis, and they are truly thankful for the fresh baked dinners and deserts. They often ask why we do it, and we just tell them because they deserve it.
I used to run a restaurant, and I fed every LE and FD that came in, not because I wanted preferential treatment, but because they deserve it.
I also never had to worry about robbery as I usually had a deputy or cop in there on or off duty.
Why dont more places follow suit? I know there will be some that take advantage, but they will get reigned in by there own.
If we dont start support our protectors, how can we expect them to keep supporting us?
Politicians can’t even do their job right, unless you feel (as they seem to), that their job is getting re-elected. When will people learn you hire professionals and stay out of their way and let them do the job they get paid for. IF they fail then you step in.
I hate meddling know it all politicians as much a as anybody. I hold most of congress in utter contempt. She may be right about congress but what are karen bunes credentials. this woman spent alot of time writing letters to the editor of the washington times lavishing praise on charles ramsey and his lackey gainer while they declared war on the MPDC and ruined a department. She is still writing ***kiss articles even while Gainer is a sgt at arms. What exactly is her connection to these two? Why is her opinion anymore valid than Morans? Why shouldnt someone be held accountable for the mistakes that led to these poor hiring? Of course Gainer supports Morse. Management always protects other management, while some schmuk in recruiting will take the fall.
I’m a cop at the college of nj (yeah, I know it’s in lower case) & we’ve been soo betrayed, abused & disrespected by our former civilian director & the current liberal democrat administration that it’s nauseating. The morale of the officers (14 instead of 25) is at an all time low even though they hired a new chief who’s actually a cop & doing his best to sort things out. The libs just don’t get the basics. We’re police officers who are trained to deal with emergencies & law violations. When someone breaks the law & we ticket or arrest them, the offender is the person who did something wrong, not the cops. Every time somebody whines about getting caught breaking the law & ticketed or arrested the admin. comes down on the cops instead of the idiot who broke the law in the first place. I could go on & on, but, I won’t because you guys know how it is, in D.C. & here at little ole TCNJ. I can’t wait to retire in about 7-8 months & go find some other nonsense to immerse my self in (I’m tired of baby sitting here & college police could really use some major support). I’m thinking about jobs with the Feds. & a much larger organization. Thank you very much Russ for your support, I’m sure it is much more appreciated than you know. I had been feeling really down lately because of all the crap here at little ole tcnj, my wife had been dealing w/ breast cancer, I had been run down by both our Admin. & an actual car that hit me as a pedestrian & our 2 daughters were struggling w/ issues. I was reading an article about a cop in the midwest who had been involved in several shootings over his long career & it made me remember why I chose to pin on the badge in the first place. I wanted to work w/ those men & women who knew there was a right & wrong & were committed to seeing that right was done & people were protected from the wrongful oppression of evil. I love you guys, you are my heroes along with the Firefighters, Medics, Military & all those other people who stand up for what’s right & put themselves on the line despite all the B.S. that’s thrown at them by the same ignorant people they protect. God bless you & yours & thank you for being there for me too when I’ve needed it (LAWRENCE TWP. NJ POLICE, NJ STATE POLICE, LAWRENCE EMS & MERCER COUNTY NJ PARAMEDICS). You guys ARE the best & don’t you forget it, bubba Louy!!
I I have been in Federal Uniform for close to 30 years aand to read Karen Bune’s letter is a very clear reminder as to just why I took “disability retirement”. She espouses the grand Hoorah of the Chief’s, most who got their by being the best ‘kisser’ they could be and proving that they could look the other way when the time came for their next promotion. Look at Gainer. He was
uSuperintendent of the Illinois State Police under how many Govenors and yet claimed he did not know about any of the backroom deals being made that affected his dept ? Then, after Gainer comes to DC, the deals all come to light, Gainer claims no knowledge under oath and becomes the DC Deputy Chief. Then when he comes to the USCP he claims all kinds of new programs and such are coming soon to aid the officer and the commuity at large. What happened ? Gainer’s programs enlarge the management of the USCP, so he can find spots for his MPDC and ISP crony’s to hide in, and starts hammering the line officer for doing their job the way that they have been trained to at FLETC.
I have worked with a great many USCP folks. The vast majority of them are so frustrated to the point of leaving simply because they are fed up with the micro-mangement that is pervasive throughout the whole of the USCP. And the House Administration comittee is not doing them any favors either. The USCP is seen ss their personal bodyguard. This aggravates the frustration. If the numbers were ever explored, objectively, you would find the USCP inability ot retain manpower is not because of burnout due to the job but becasue of constant nit-picking. Supervision does not mean discipline to the point of constantly threatening someones job. That kind of ‘management’ is what has gotten so many agencies, not just USCP, in a manpower bind. As the former Director of FLETC, Charlie Rinkevich, once said “You treat them like crap and abuse them for your own goals, you don’t deserve them in the first place”. Charlie knew but no one wanted to listen. And when agencies start mass hirings, like US Air Marshal’s, was it a wonder why so many people suddenly applied ? You can tell the good agencies from the crappy ones by simply looking at their retention rates and hiring cycles. Decent agencies, who leave their officers alone to do the job, are going to have a very low turnover. Crappy agencies, who practice ‘vulture-of-death-on-the-shoulder” style management are going to have a chronicly high turnover rate. And the worst part is this; the officer’s who leave are probably in their 3 to 4th year of the job and just becoming effective in working the streets. Thet are also, probably, the same one’s who have numerous ‘chicken-shit’ complaints in their jackets that should have been tossed out if anyone had ever bothered to actually read them and see them for what they were, i.e., the bad guys trying to get rid of the folks who were actually getting the job done.
Gainer ran out a lot of the folks who got the job done simply because they didn’t make him look good. Screw looking good. You were hired to get the job done, not be a sculpture in the Capitol Rotunda. Gainer wants a monument ? Fine, how about the Civil Rights suit he caused as Superintendent that cost the ISP how many millions of dollars that could have been used on training, better equipment,etc ? Now that’s a monument !!!
Have you ever worked for USCP lady? You have ZERO idea what you are talking about. This agency is so dysfunctional and biased that it can now only be fixed by dismantling it and starting over. Most of these guards are literally spending half their day on “break“ and engaging in infighting with one another, its a very low class of recuits that a real police PATROL agency would never take. Military guards would be the best option, and the resoucres are already taxpayer funded.
A fair portion of USCP officers have LITERAL 4 HOURS of `break time` over the course of an 8 hour workday, MOST have NEVER MADE ONE ARREST in there entire career ebcasue they are basically guards only, and most are not field-trained as police officers, they are only trained to `guard` level. there are no recruiting standards to speak of, and if you notice, there web site is 100 percent recruiting, becasue they have to rplace the decent people who leave once they have enough of USCP insanity so often. Most real police depts only have to recruit once or MAYBE twice a year, and they get to be selective, USCP is 40 percent black, higer pect than any agency but the Bureau of Prisons, and is managed like the city itself poorly or not at all.