Bitter partisan disagreements remain over who bears responsibility for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, but both sides agree there was a massive security failure that created an environment for the breach.
In the year since the attack at the Capitol, Congressional committees of jurisdiction and other oversight investigations identified numerous shortfalls in the security apparatus that contributed to the mob overrunning the Capitol and halting the certification of electoral votes.
The Capitol Police Board, the body of officials who oversee the police department that protects congressional buildings and members, released a 10-page report this week detailing security improvements to the Capitol complex. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, who assumed command of the force in July 2021, also discussed the improvements at a press conference on Tuesday and a Senate Rules Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Manger said the department has implemented about 34 of the 104 recommendations made by an inspector general report last year and is in the process of addressing about 60 more. Republicans and the Capitol Police Union have criticized the department and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not doing more to improve security.
Here are improvements that have been made to Capitol security and where it still needs work:
IMPROVEMENT: Capitol Police ability to request National Guard assistance
In December, Congress passed legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law that allows the Capitol Police chief to request assistance directly from the National Guard.
Governance structure meant Capitol Police did not have unilateral authority to request National Guard assistance on Jan. 6. The chief needed approval from a majority of the Capitol Police Board, consisting of the House sergeant-at-arms, who reports to the speaker of the House; the Senate sergeant-at-arms, who reports to the Senate majority leader; and the architect of the Capitol.
That meant on the day of the riot, the police chief frantically had to get approval from both sergeants-at-arms during the attack.
IMPROVEMENT: Intelligence
“Prior to [Jan. 6], we were not sharing information the way we should be, and we were not disseminating it to our own people the way we should be,” Manger said Wednesday. “We had intelligence, and it wasn’t acted on.”
The FBI sent an intelligence bulletin to the Capitol Police and other local law enforcement via email on Jan. 5, but officials testified the intelligence was not properly escalated.
The department has added nine intelligence analysts, Manger said. The department is now producing its own intelligence products and sharing them with other agencies and its officers. It is also in the process of hiring an intelligence director.
IMPROVEMENT: Police communication
The force has improved its radio communication systems and issued cellphones to all officers on the police force so they can easily access daily intelligence briefings.
On Jan. 6, Capitol Police leaders did not take control of the radio system to issue orders to officers on the front lines engaging in hand-to-hand combat with rioters.
“I was horrified that NO deputy chief or above was on the radio or helping us,” one officer told the Senate Rules Committee. “For hours, the screams on the radio were horrific, the sights were unimaginable, and there was a complete loss of control.”
IMPROVEMENT: Operational planning
The Capitol Police lacked detailed operational plans for how to handle Jan. 6. It has since hired a former U.S. Secret Service official with experience in operational planning and implemented a Critical Incident Response Plan. USCP now takes a “multi-phased approach to the event planning process, with a focus on information gathering, intelligence, asset determination, internal coordination, and execution,” according to its report.
NEEDS WORK: Staffing Capitol Police
On the day of the riot, the Capitol Police force was 233 officers below the authorized level, according to the Capitol Police Union. Today, the Capitol Police force is about 457 short of where it needs to be, according to Manger.
The union criticized the Capitol Police Board for hiring private security officers to help make up for the severely understaffed police force, calling it “a recipe for disaster” because the contractors “are not trained to our standards.” Manger said he understands the union’s concerns and is trying to address them.
NEEDS WORK: Physical improvements
Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton, a member of the Capitol Police Board, said money was appropriated by Congress for upgrades to windows and camera systems. New windows will be installed in the spring.
Blanton added that “significant” physical improvements have been made. Windows broken on Jan. 6, 2021, have been repaired, and there is also an effort to reinforce doors to the Capitol. Lighting and electrical systems have been enhanced.
NEEDS WORK: Morale
A scathing release from the Capitol Police union this week stated that “the Capitol is not yet secure enough to withstand future attacks.”
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Manger hopes that officers will start to feel more supported soon.
“Morale is always, what I’ve learned, is it’s in the eye of the beholder,” Manger said Wednesday. “These officers need to believe in their hearts that this department cares about them, that what happened on Jan. 6, where the department let them down in so many ways — that the department had to take responsibility for fixing those failures and for making sure that that never happens again. And that’s going to take time.”
