February 11, 2008
Capitol Hill Police Forces Merge
Did you know that there was a Library of Congress Police Force? Neither did we, but turns out they won't actually exist for much longer anyway. The Post says a merger between the LOC force and the U.S. Capitol Police has finally been approved after years of trying to hammer out an agreement between the two law enforcement agencies.
Combining the LOC police, which boasts only about 100 officers, and the Capitol Police, with its 1,700 officers, has been in the works since Sept. 11, 2001, when weaknesses in communication between the two Hill forces led to the library officers being left out of the human cordon formed around the Capitol that morning. It apparently took this long to put a deal together due to big differences in things like training and retirement packages between the two.
The Library of Congress police force were formed in 1950 as an unarmed force that was designated to control entry and exit procedures for the library and its tunnels that connect the buildings to the rest of the Capitol complex. As of 1987, the LOC police have carried guns, however.
The AP says the merger will be completed by October 2009, and that library police officers will be eligible to the Capitol Police force as long as they meet eligibility requirements and complete the training program. Those who don't qualify will get civilian jobs with the force.
Photo by Eye Captain
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Before 9/11 the LOC police force was able to keep rent-a-cops out of the facility; now the library is infested with them and they stink. Will they be replaced with sworn officers now?
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Many of the LOC police are now going to be out of a job, from the article:
Those with the library police will become Capitol Police officers if they meet that agency's age and service requirements and complete its training program.
Most of them do not meet those service requirements. Which is why the merger, which has been in the works for years, has taken so long.
-Former LOC employee
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"Most of them do not meet those service requirements. Which is why the merger, which has been in the works for years, has taken so long."
That is thoroughly depressing, as Cap Police is not exactly the cream of law enforcement.
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"Many of the LOC police are now going to be out of a job"
That’s awesome! Shortly after my father died unexpectedly, I had to go to the LOC to clean out his desk. I had all the appropriate “employee of 40 years just croaked and I need to clean out his desk” paperwork. While I was showing it to the LOC cop to gain entrance, she wouldn’t even look at me or my paperwork and kept screaming, while looking the ceiling, that I had to go to such and such building for such and such nonsense ( while refusing to tell me where supposed office was). Luckily someone recognized me from the funeral and forced her to let me in, to which she responded by rolling her eyes and sucking her teeth. C*nt. Will they take away her pension too? Please.
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rent-a-cops in DC SUCK
suck suck suck suckity suck.
especially at the DOI building.
i used to have to go down there once a month for the board on geographic names meetings (i was the representative from NGS). same guards every month, recognizing me, the same person, going to the same meeting on the same floor in the same room.
never could get in without calling down a supervisor, having 5 people huddle around the letter that i had giving me permission to get into the building, and then dealing with 15 minutes of deliberation on their part.
it made me want to scream. is it that damn hard to do your job?!?
this rant has nothing to do with anything. damnit, i'm sorry.
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maybe they could get the government printing office police to merge with them too. for some reason i always laugh at them when i bike by around north capitol and H. it just seems like the printing office might be one place that doesn't need police.
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Why do so many federal agencies have their own security? Why not one security agency for all of them? Or, if you're really concerned with separation of powers issues, one security agency for the Supreme Court and federal courts, the Capitol police for Congress and all its buildings, the Secret Service for the White House, and one single federal agency for all executive branch buildings. Voila! Simplification!
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I am surprised.....no comments about Mr. Bookman yet? I guess this will be a bad year for libraries!
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Last time I checked, Capitol Hill Police were well-trained at Quantico. For a few years they were allowed to patrol residential Capitol Hill on conventional police duty and did quite well. Since 9/11 officers have spent most of their time looking under cars with mirrors.
LOC Police (not the rent-a-cops, the sworn officers) are pretty good, and the undercover officers are excellent. WaPo says about a quarter of the LOC officers aren't expected to meet the CHP requirements (probably too old or out-of-shape for the running test) and will be given civilian desk jobs.
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Mike is right. US Capitol Police used to patrol the closeer-in Hill areas routinely. This was terrific.
Since 9/11 they've apparently decided that they will hole up in their Fortress of Solitude on the Capitol grounds themselves, residents be damned.
Apparently they are unconcerned about stopping potential terrorists, nutballs, etc., before they actually get to the Capitol.
You'd think that perhaps if they made their presence known in the neighborhood that may be a great way to prevent terror attacks.
It's a shame, really. We used to have a great working relationship with these folks. Now, we never see them.
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I used to work as a police officer on capitol hill a few years ago. I have since left to get a job in law enforcment with more challenges. All of those law enforcement agencies on capitol hill are pretty much a joke. They spend so much money on recruitment and training, only to have the intelligent motivated officers leave to other agencies. The majority of people that stick around can't get a job anywhere else or are lazy and just want a pay check. Go ahead and check to see how many arrests each of those agencies make, and see how much they all cost. With that many trained and sworn law enforcement officers, there should be very little crime in a five mile radius of the capitol. Instead, the management just wants the police officers up there sitting around playing security guard.