Talk:United States Capitol Police

management/organization
The Capitol Police Board says that the two Sergeants-at-arms and the Architect of the Capitol oversee the USCP. Do they appoint the Chief of the USCP? Shouldn't something about the management structure be part of this article? --rogerd 20:03, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The chief is appointed by the Police Board with the advice and consent of the House Administration Committee and the Senate Rules Committee. I don't have any cited info, but try the archives of Roll Call and The Hill for more. With Chief Morse coming on board in the last year, they should have some information on the search for a chief. --Daysleeper47 13:42, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

As someone who clearly sees that Trump has lost this election, I think it is extremely intellectually and morally dishonest to cite matter of factly that fraud did not happen whatsoever. You can have your own personal beliefs on the subject, but there is more overwhelming evidence supporting fraud (probably not on any truly significant vote changing level) in the form of states not following their own voting rules, irregularities in the amount of rejected ballots in relation to other years, and lies being told such as, "Go home, we'll resume counting in the morning", or, "We had to postpone voting in Georgia due to a water leak". Vote counting did indeed continue untruthfully and there was no water leak. If investigations do happen, please write about the findings then. However, at this point, please keep your information accurate as I believe that you do have some otherwise fantastic reading material here! - JZ

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:15, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

picture
The Bike patrol picture is not a picture of Capitol Police but rather a picture of DC Metropolitan Police. Jonjonjonny (talk) 14:56, 5 March 2015 (UTC)

Parent agency?
What's the USCP's parent agency? Is it the DOJ or Congress or what? Illegitimate Barrister 11:14, 14 March 2015 (UTC)
 * It is controlled by Congress and is governed by the Capitol Police Board which are also controlled by congress, so Congress. - SantiLak  (talk) 05:41, 16 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Alrightey, thanks. – Illegitimate Barrister (talk • contribs), 00:15, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

2021 United States Capitol protests
So, are we just going to willfully ignore this agency's role (or lack thereof) in the 2021 United States Capitol protests?  BroadSt_Bully  [talk]  04:39, 7 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Their WILLFUL lack of a response to these protests can be cited. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/capitol-breach-security-failures/2021/01/06/e1e09b80-5061-11eb-b96e-0e54447b23a1_story.html?itid=hp-top-table-main-0106 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.161.20.80 (talk) 11:45, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

2021 riots incorrect link
The paragraph on the 2021 riots contains a link to the British Metropolitan Police Department instead of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. Editing is currently locked, anyone who amends this feel free to remove this entry from Talk. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Benser33 (talk • contribs) 18:41, 7 January 2021 (UTC)


 * I've fixed it just now. Hotshot977 (talk) 19:00, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 January 2021
I have been a faithful contributor of Wikipedia. After reading this false, biased page I can no longer contribute as this site is now worthless. I know it is impossible to keep out all bias but this pager is an example of a far left wing bias with no basis of true research. Good bye. 50.230.222.50 (talk) 20:26, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. &#8209;&#8209; El Hef  ( Meep? ) 20:35, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Death of Officers on Duty
I see that Snooganssnoogans has removed this section and I guess he's right in his reasoning however 3 out of 4 (with today's news) have died protecting the Capitol against violent offenders and in both cases there are separate pages to the respective incidents too. 2 officers were laid in honor, which is unusual, and I think we'll see the third one as well. Maybe would be worth adding it back as "Notable deaths of officers on duty" or something similar? -- KennyOMG (talk) 01:57, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I don't think the deaths of the member of an organization in and of themselves are notable. If the incidents that the members died during are notable, then I don't see why the incidents couldn't be mentioned in the history section and the deaths in relation to the incidents. Snooganssnoogans (talk)
 * What about the other police departments that have such sections in their articles? If anything, we should at least have a summary of the number of officers that died and how. Love of Corey (talk) 08:49, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I would oppose such sections in other articles, as well. The content strikes me as unduly glorifying and memorializing. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 22:36, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

US "and DC"?
OK I am British, and I know DC is not a state, but surely it is within the US? the lead currently says that USCP are responsible for safety of Members of Congress "throughout the entire United States, its territories and possessions, and the District of Columbia". Is that actually necessary? Does "the entire United States" not include DC already? IdreamofJeanie (talk) 08:34, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
 * To a Brit, or in fact to many people, "the entire United States" would include everything that could be described as being within the control of the US, but in strict legal terms anything other than the 50 states is often not regarded in US law as being the United States, hence the qualification. ninety:one  11:04, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks for that. IdreamofJeanie (talk) 11:40, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Citation for letter from Mayor Bowser
The citation for the statements beginning with "In the days before the storming of the capitol, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote a letter" is a twitter cite that redirects to the root URL.

A post from the Mayor with an image of the referenced correspondence can be found here.

It could be good to have another RS for the info. I don't know if this one is considered RS, but here.

I also think it would be relevant to include this related information published prior to the day of the events in question.

The National Guard has been mobilized to Washington ahead of pro-Trump demonstrations planned this week as Congress convenes to certify the election results. The Guard will be used to help control crowds and manage traffic, the police chief said. Mayor Muriel Bowser requested the Guard be activated and urged residents and others to stay safe and be cautious. Thanks. DoctorCaligari (talk) 20:34, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Exclusive Jurisdication and related matters
I'm not sure some aspects of the article are fully accurate in terms of jurisidiction (exclusive or otherwise). Having looked at the MPD written directives it would appear that in law MPD officers are able to arrest in Capitol buildings and grounds. They should not ENTER to arrest without the consent of the Capitol Police Board but they can arrest if they happen to be on the grounds if something happens.

Also it would appear any homicide or serious sexual offence cases that occur within the Capitol buildings or grounds are investigated by the MPD with the assistance of Capitol Police not by the Capitol Police alone. At present the article reads as if the Capitol Police have exclusive jurisdiction in the Capitol buildings and its grounds. That implies they have sole police authority in the location which the above casts some doubt on, or at least requires some explanation?

Relevant written directive source here: Bowchaser (talk) 12:10, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

Governing body
The lede says that "It answers to Congress, not the President of the United States". However it says in the History section that the Office of Inspector General reports directly to the Capitol Police Board and that article says that it is the body that governs the United States Capitol Police. This consists of three individuals: 2 sergeants-at-arms and the Architect of the Capitol who appear to be totally autonomous. The first two are appointed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, the architect was appointed by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate. I'd suggest that the lede needs to be modified, but as I'm not an expert on the American Constitution, I'd ask someone else to phrase it suitably.

Both sergeants have resigned since January 6 but apparently not the Architect despite calls for his resignation. The Washington Post has said the "outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund blamed his bosses on the police board for not promptly approving requests to put the D.C. National Guard on standby." Chris55 (talk) 21:35, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

BAD wording
First paragraph: >> whose three members are appointed by two of the three branches of government (House, Senate and President) <<

The three branches of US government are Legislative, Executive and Judicial. Did Tommy Tuberville write this line? The House and Senate are both part of the Legislative branch. Moreover the Vice President is also part of the Executive branch. "President" ia not a branch. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.160.130.28 (talk) 19:02, 21 February 2021 (UTC)
 * True, removed. ɱ  (talk) 19:31, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Weight given to second paragraph re jurisdiction
I think the way the current jurisdiction section is written gives undue weight and is slightly misleading re the powers Capitol Police officers have across the country. Normally Capitol Police officers have legal jurisdiction in a small part of the District with a slightly largely extended jurisdiction as set out in the legislation and policy of the MPD. Only when they are actively on protective detail of congress members do they have legal jurisidiction to make arrests anywhere in the country and then only in relation to performing those duties. Anyone not aware of this may be mislead by the way the second paragraph is written into thinking Capitol Police officers have legal jurisdiction anywhere in the US which they clearly don't. Especially with its placement above the primary jurisidiction paragraph. Thoughts? Bowchaser (talk) 11:22, 30 March 2023 (UTC)