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Union Calls Department A 'Mess,' Seeks New Management, Funding
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Several members of Congress expressed outrage yesterday.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called the Park Police the "stepchildren of the federal police" because of the agency's chronic lack of resources. "It took an IG report to call attention to the obvious," said Norton, who announced plans to request a hearing with the House Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) said Congress needs to step in, adding, "We've been sounding the alarm for years that low morale and understaffing pervades our federal law enforcement agencies."
Austin and others said conditions have not improved since the ouster of Teresa C. Chambers, who was fired in 2004 after publicly raising concerns about staffing, budgets and security. Chambers is still fighting the Park Service in court over her removal.
Chambers, who recently became chief of the Riverdale Park police force in Prince George's County, said yesterday that she was not surprised by the report.
"It's exactly the type of thing I was trying to warn my bosses about four or five years ago," she said. "I feel for the officers who are trying to do their jobs with the diminishing resources."
"There is no pleasure in having a report vindicate you when you have officers and visitors at risk," Chambers added. "Not only have things not improved, they have gotten worse."
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