The Government Printing Office says it’s merely “enhancing” its police force with unarmed private guards.
But the police union says the GPO is trying to privatize the force — and is endangering the Capitol’s security to do it.
The printing office has awarded a $907,000 contract to Knight Security, whose guards are unarmed and not trained as police officers.
The Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the GPO’s police officers, says the Knight contract has been accompanied by a hiring freeze that’s dropped the police force’s numbers.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, there were 55 police officers working for the printing office. Today, there are 30.
The union says it is furious about the arrangement and that the GPO’s penny-pinching is endangering the Capitol’s safety.
“There’s equipment that’s stored there that you want to make sure that nobody can get to,” Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Lou Cannon told The Examiner. “You want to have crack security.”
The printing office is home to dozens of vital first-response vehicles that belong to other police agencies, including the Capitol Police.
The thinking is that if the Capitol is hit with a chemical, germ or nuclear weapon, any first-response vehicle stored there might be destroyed or contaminated.
Cannon said he does not have a per se objection to reducing the department’s numbers. In fact, he supports merging the printing office police with the Capitol Police Department — as was done at the Library of Congress.
Printing office spokeswoman Veronica Meter said the Knight Guards are there to “enhance” security “and to provide additional detection capabilities.”
