The board that oversees the Capitol police failed to prepare officers for the Jan. 6 attack, officials representing the Government Accountability Office and the Office of the Inspector General testified Tuesday.
House Administration Committee lawmakers learned from Capitol police inspector general Michael Bolton that rioters stole ballistic vests and helmets when officers retreated from their posts.
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“The [First Responders Unit] officers are not equipped with adequate, less than lethal weapons, such as pepper ball and sting ball systems. They also lacked advanced medical and tactical training,” Bolton said. “Many of the officers affected by chemical irritants dispatched from the crowd. Those officers did not have proper decontaminating sites within reach and ended up using bottled water or bathroom sinks.”
Supporters of former President Donald Trump breached the Capitol during a protest over the electoral vote certification. Capitol police were initially overwhelmed.
Bolton also discussed issues with training for the Capitol Police’s Containment & Emergency Response Team (CERT).
“During 2018, 2019, a department spent $90,000 for CERT to train with Northern Red. The homepage of the company’s website uses the model or slogan ‘For those who have hunted our men, training is never the same,’” Bolton said. “Well, some of the content could have multiple meanings. They’re used at department-provided training and could lead employees to feel unsafe or uncomfortable.”
CERT was created in 1978 to deal with tactical operations around the Capitol complex when terrorist activity become more of an issue.
Dr. Gretta Goodwin, director of GAO’s Homeland Security and Justice team, testified that since the Jan. 6 attack, the IG has made over 60 recommendations in four reports.
GAO also issued a set of recommendations to the Capitol Police Board in 2017 that have yet to be implemented, according to Goodwin.
“We examined the board’s main governing document, its manual of procedures, and determined that the manual fully incorporated one leading practice and partially incorporated the five others while the manual did develop processes for internal functions of the board,” Goodwin said.
Recommendations included revising the board manual and enhance accountability, transparency, and effective external communication. According to Goodwin, the audit findings were not addressed.
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“As of today, the board has not provided us with any substantive information consistent with the practices noted above communicating regularly with auditing entities on the status of recommendations is important,” she said.
