The U.S. Capitol Police are planning to expand outside of the District of Columbia, opening regional field offices “to better protect lawmakers” against threats in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, reports The New York Times.
Florida and California will be the first regional offices to open to address the rising threats against members of Congress, which have doubled since 2017, according to acting chief of force Yogananda D. Pittman.
The majority of those threats are from people outside of D.C., Pittman said.
Tim Barber, a spokesman, said the plan was to open several additional regional offices as the department charged with protecting Congress transforms itself in the aftermath of the attack, which exposed serious deficiencies in the Capitol Police’s gathering and dissemination of intelligence, preparedness and training.
Much like the Secret Service, which has field offices in multiple states and countries, the Capitol Police need to be able to monitor and quickly investigate threats against lawmakers wherever they occur, Mr. Barber said. (The New York Times)
But the expansion of the Capitol Police's power is raising eyebrows for a number of reasons, including its secrecy, given that USCP are not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.
Jan 6 was no joke, downplaying it is one of the more irritating things I see on here, but the way that the security state is using the attack to expand its power is very very bad https://t.co/pbRIIfG6Ff
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) July 7, 2021
This is always what "defund the police" meant.
— California Mises Caucus (@CAMisesCaucus) July 7, 2021
The federalization of policing in America continues. https://t.co/mrP8Aif0xe
"To better protect lawmakers..."
— Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) July 6, 2021
This is as dangerous as it is unconstitutional.
No secret federal police force. We need to shut this down yesterday. https://t.co/t9vlXCAwYI
Unless Congress expands the Act that created the Capitol Police . .
— Lawyerforlaws (@lawyer4laws) July 6, 2021
They have No Jurisdiction in other states . . https://t.co/nvG9F34U8D
So a secret police force?
— Natalie F Danelishen (@Chesschick01) July 6, 2021
Do you see what is going on America? https://t.co/hgI1KsoHfg
It seems we’ve transitioned from the ‘outpouring of sympathy’ stage to the ‘full frontal assault on individual liberty’ stage of this whole thing. https://t.co/XzENEWCtOL
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 6, 2021
The move comes as the Biden administration has placed combating domestic extremism as a top priority.
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