Capitol Police Were Warned of Holes in Security

Lieutenants Listed Flaws in Aug. Memo; No One Was Guarding Doorway That Intruder Burst Through

Capitol Police officers warned their superiors this summer that the U.S. Capitol needed tighter security because of construction work, but a door was left unguarded this week, allowing the worst breach in eight years, officials said yesterday.

A drug-addled man easily drove a Chevrolet TrailBlazer through a partially blocked construction entrance to the Capitol grounds, according to officials and court testimony. The man then outran two dozen police officers into the building and went from floor to floor until a civilian employee lifted him up and literally handed him to police. The officers found a loaded pistol in the intruder's waistband.

New revelations emerged as authorities continued to investigate Monday's incident. As days go by, the officials have grudgingly admitted further blunders in one of the biggest embarrassments for the law enforcement agency in years.

No one was injured in the early morning drama, which ended in the man's arrest. But legislators are outraged that it could occur, given the $2 billion they have spent on police and equipment at the Capitol since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"We have provided the [Capitol Police] everything they've ever asked us for . . . from equipment to personnel. At times around here, this place looks like an armed camp," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "For somebody to be able to breach this kind of security is ridiculous."

The security mistakes were as basic as failing to block a construction entrance at First Street and Maryland Avenue NE, officials said. Capitol Police officers who were at that site incorrectly parked their sport-utility vehicle so it was perpendicular to the street, not blocking traffic from getting through the opening, according to police officials and testimony at a hearing for the suspect yesterday in U.S. District Court.

That allowed Carlos Greene, 20, of Silver Spring, who has a record of gun offenses, to drive through the entrance, swiping the passenger's side of the officers' SUV along the way, the officials said.

Acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher M. McGaffin said in an interview that he had learned only yesterday afternoon that a group of officers recently expressed concern about security at the construction site for the Capitol Visitor Center, on the east side of the building -- and then only after a query from a Washington Post reporter.

He said that several lieutenants had put together an e-mail memo Aug. 4 with "very solid, substantive identifications of security concerns within the Capitol building," particularly in the area where there is construction.

As construction has progressed in recent weeks, authorities have dismantled wooden fences that had blocked the Capitol steps, leaving the area more open, according to law enforcement sources.

McGaffin said the lieutenants sent their concerns to the commander of the Capitol Police Security Services Bureau, which is in charge of physical security. On Aug. 9, that bureau inspected the identified areas, the chief said.

"Corrective action" was taken in every area, "with one or two exceptions," McGaffin said. He said a report detailing the problems and solutions was provided to Assistant Chief Larry Thompson on Aug. 14 but did not go any higher until yesterday. The report also indicates that additional foot patrols would be added to help guard the area -- but it was unclear whether they had materialized, McGaffin said.