CAPITOL POLICE BOARD

STATEMENT OF GARY L. ABRECHT, CHIEF, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE
ACCOMPANIED BY:

GILMAN UDELL, JR., CAPTAIN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE

MICHAEL P. CONWAY, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE

JIM VAREY, DEPUTY SERGEANT AT ARMS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HOWARD GREENE, SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS

JOYCE MCCLUNEY, SENATE DEPUTY SERGEANT AT ARMS

BILL LIVINGOOD, HOUSE SERGEANT AT ARMS

JOHN T. CAULFIELD, GENERAL COUNSEL, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE MICHAEL D. MARSHALL, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT

JOHNNIE R. GROSS, RETIRED, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT

DAN NICHOLS, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE

OPENING REMARKS

Senator MACK. Next, will be the Capitol Police Board.

For our benefit, you might want to identify the others that are here, or they can identify themselves, whichever way you want to do it.

Chief ABRECHT. Certainly. We have at the far end the Deputy House Sergeant at Arms, Mr. Jim Varey. Howard Greene, of course, is the Senate Sergeant at Arms. Joyce McCluney is deputy, and Wilson Livingood is the House Sergeant at Arms.

At the end, we have Capt. Gil Udell, who is in charge of technical security, bombs, and things like that, and his deputy is Lieutenant Conway. Right behind me is John Caulfield, who is general counsel for the Department. Sgt. Mike Marshall is Deputy Director of the Office of Financial Management.

Next to him is Inspector Johnnie Gross, who is actually retired, but has been gracious enough to come back and assist me. He was the Director of the Office of Financial Management.

I would like to recognize him, if I could, he has been before this committee for years and years and years, and he has agreed to come back and help us get through this last budget hearing.

Dan Nichols is the public information officer with the Department.

Senator MACK. Very good. All right. Thank you.

It is the intention now of the committee to close this hearing, because there are some things that we need to talk about that we should close the hearing, and we will make a part of the record all the appropriate information that is necessary after that discussion. So at this point, we will be closing the hearing.

I am making the assumption now that everyone who is remaining is supposed to be in the room, and I am also making the as

sumption as well that the cameras and these devices have been turned off.

Well, go ahead then with your opening statement, and then we will proceed from there.

REMARKS FROM CHIEF ABRECHT

Chief ABRECHT. Mr. Chairman and Senator Bennett, I am honored to appear before you today to discuss the fiscal year 1996 budget request of the U.S. Capitol Police.

I am aware that my testimony today is overshadowed by the tragic April 19 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

This act of terrorism, like the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, underscores the fact that there is a constant underlying threat to the U.S. Government facilities and institutions, which originates from a variety of domestic and international sources. It has also served to strengthen our resolve to secure the Capitol complex against such acts.

Our challenges in this regard are great. Unlike the White House, which is surrounded by an iron fence, the U.S. Capitol and the House and Senate office buildings are situated in an open environment.

As such, pedestrians and vehicles are allowed to come into close proximity to the congressional buildings at anytime of the day.

Citizens may enter these buildings without appointment or escort and, after the initial security screening, visit any congressional office, view the Congress from the galleries, or simply roam the hallways.

The U.S. Capitol Police supports and respects the public's right of free access to their elected representatives and the Capitol buildings.

However, we must ensure that we strike the balance between free access and the need to protect the U.S. Congress, the congressional community, and the visiting public from acts of violence.

Perhaps, parenthetically, one of the shocking things about the bombing in Oklahoma City is that many of the people who were victims there were not, in fact, Federal employees, but constituents, citizens, who were in there trying to get their Social Security straightened out, or whatever it might be.

Any bombing in any of these buildings would have exactly the same effect. We all here may be paid to take those risks, many of the citizens are not. They are here to do some kind of legitimate business of theirs, and are running a risk.

Therefore, immediately following the Oklahoma City bombing, the Department, with the concurrence of the Capitol Police Board and the committees of jurisdiction, instituted a number of measures aimed at increasing the overall level of security within the Capitol complex.

SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS

I will articulate a few of these enhancements, and let me say that this statement was originally sanitized for presentation in an open hearing, so if you have any questions, I will be glad to go into considerably greater detail on any of these.

Parking has been restricted near the congressional office buildings. Additional officers have been deployed to conduct foot patrols near the buildings.

We have instituted enhanced positive identification checks, searches of vehicles entering the garages, canine sweeps of vehicles parked near the building, and increased security screening at public entrances.

These enhanced security measures, while effective, are tremendously labor intensive.

Since April 19, the Department has been operating at a 100-percent staffing level. This means that any vacancy

Senator MACK. Could you say that again?

Chief ABRECHT. Since April 19, the Department has been operating at a 100-percent staffing level. What this means is that any vacancies in the ranks, due to absences of assigned officers or unfilled positions are offset by officers working additional duty hours or excused days off, in order to cover all the added responsibilities resulting from the enhanced measures as well as our ordinary primary assignments.

As a result of this increased responsibility, we have required officers to work a considerable amount of overtime. While this is an acceptable short-term solution, we need to address our long-term staffing concerns.

In January, the Capitol Police Board ordered a comprehensive security survey of the entire Capitol complex.

This survey, which is being conducted by the Capitol Police, the Secret Service, and the House and Senate Sergeant at Arms, is examining all measures and equipment currently employed to secure the complex. The staffing levels, personnel deployment, and operations of the Department will also be addressed.

During the first few months of this Congress, the U.S. Capitol Police have also been faced with substantial increases in events that impact on security. Demonstrations on the Capitol Grounds increased by 48 percent, compared with last year.

Probably more significantly, in terms of its impact on our manpower, we have had to make 94 arrests for acts of civil disobedience during these demonstrations, when we had made none during the same period last year.

Ironically, that number, 94, was good this morning. It is not good this afternoon, since today we have made at least 19 arrests, as of the last time I checked, of wheelchair-bound individuals who are involved in a massive handicap demonstration going on at the present time in the Capitol Building.

I do not know if when you went over to vote you encountered these people. There are some 200 of them in the Capitol Building, of which 19 have already been arrested for blocking hallways.

They are very difficult to arrest and process, obviously, because people are in wheelchairs, they are just an example of how this continues to escalate on a day-to-day basis.

State visits requiring additional security measures more than doubled, and VIP escorts were one-half again as many as last year. During the same period, we have also seen a significant increase in the number of threats to Members of Congress.

With regard to our law enforcement efforts

Senator MACK. Can you give us a sense of that-you say it is a significant increase from what to what?

[Deleted.]

CRIME STATISTICS

Chief ABRECHT. With regard to our law enforcement efforts, I am pleased to report that there was a significant decline in criminal activity within the Capitol complex during fiscal year 1994.

Within our primary jurisdiction, crimes against persons declined by 10 percent, and property crimes reflected a 28-percent decrease, for a combined total of 351 criminal offenses.

At the same time within the area that comprises the extended jurisdiction, 642 crimes against persons, and 2,674 property crimes were reported.

EXTENDED JURISDICTION

Senator MACK. Give us a sense again of where the extendedChief ABRECHT. Could you put the map up? Third Street, on the west; Seventh Street, on the east, right by the Eastern Market, you know the neighborhood; H Street, on the north, H Street Northeast and Northwest; Third Street, on the west; and it goes down quite a ways in the south of the Capitol, because of the presence of several congressional facilities way down in that warehouse district.

We have a facility down there, and the Architect has several facilities down there. So the zone was drawn to encompass that area as well.

Senator BENNETT. Do you conduct regular patrols through that whole area, foot patrols, auto patrols?

Chief ABRECHT. We conduct extensive auto patrols, primarily for the propose of visiting congressional facilities that are located there.

However, the officers have been directed that when a crime, particularly a crime of any seriousness or a crime of violence comes to their attention, they are to take some type of action.

They are not to allow a citizen to be injured as a result of their not taking action. So our patrols are directed to perform a congressional mission, not to provide crime deterrence for the local population, but when they do see something, as they have, unfortunately more and more, they are directed to take some type of action to ensure the safety of the population.

Senator BENNETT. Of these crimes you report here, 642 crimes against persons, I assume that is mugging, rape

of

Chief ABRECHT. That is exactly it. And assault are the threeSenator BENNETT [continuing]. Assault. Do you investigate any these, or are they investigated by the Metropolitan Police? Chief ABRECHT. Those would be investigated by the Metropolitan Police, unless we happen to make the arrest, which is a very small fraction.

Senator MACK. OK. So these are the crimes reported in that

area.

Chief ABRFCHT. Yes.

Senator MACK. These are not crimes that you all-or you have not made these arrests.

Chief ABRECHr. No. No.

Senator MACK. OK.

Chief ABRECHT. On arrests, in the extended jurisdiction, we made 65 criminal arrests.

Senator MACK. Were those all related to congressional facilities. Chief ABRECHT. No; those would have been primarily things that our officers happened upon on their way to or from a congressional facility, or what we call a D-check.

[Deleted.]

A total of 138 weapons and contraband were recovered by U.S. Capitol police officers in performance of their duties in fiscal year 1994. Of that total, 15 were guns; 5 of which were recovered during administrative inspections of individuals attempting to enter the Capitol or congressional office buildings.

I am proud of the dedicated performance of duty of our officers and employees to meet the law enforcement and protective requirements of the U.S. Congress and the visiting public.

We understand that the protection of the U.S. Capitol and those who work and visit within these buildings serves a national interest; therefore, it is the continued goal of the U.S. Capitol Police to remain vigilant in our efforts to effectively meet the challenges for our mission.

PREPARED STATEMENT

I previously submitted the overview and schedule of estimates, and budget justifications, and I will be pleased to answer any questions you have, sir.

[The statement follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF GARY L. ABRECHT

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am honored to appear before you to discuss the fiscal year 1996 budget request for the United States Capitol Police. I am aware that my testimony today is overshadowed by the tragic April 19 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. This act of terrorism, like the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, underscores the fact that there is a constant underlying threat to United States government facilities and institutions which originates from a variety of domestic and international sources. It has also served to strengthen our resolve to secure the Capitol complex against such acts. Our challenges in this regard are great. Unlike the White House, which is surrounded by an iron fence, the United States Capitol and the House and Senate Office Buildings are situated in an open environment. As such, pedestrians and vehicles are allowed to come into close proximity to the Congressional buildings at anytime of the day. Citizens may enter these buildings without appointment or escort and, after the initial security screening, visit any Congressional office, view the Congress from the galleries, or simply roam the hallways.

The U.S. Capitol Police supports and respects the public's right of free access to their elected representatives and the Capitol buildings. However, we must ensure that we strike the balance between free access and the need to protect the United States Congress, the Congressional community, and the visiting public from acts of violence. Therefore, immediately following the Oklahoma City bombing, the Department, with the concurrence of the Capitol Police Board and the Committees of jurisdiction, instituted a number of measures aimed at increasing the overall level of security within the Capitol complex.

While some measures are confidential in nature, I will articulate a few of the enhancements that are considered to be in the public domain: parking has been restricted near the Congressional Office Buildings; additional officers have been deployed to conduct foot patrols near the buildings; enhanced positive identification checks; searches of vehicles entering the garages; K-9 sweeps of vehicles parked near the buildings; and increased security screening at public entrances. These enhanced security measures, while effective, are labor intensive.