As left-leaning leaders across the country push for a “defund” campaign for local police departments, union leaders say the U.S. Park Police (USPP) has quietly experienced staffing cuts and behind-the-scenes strains on resources as one of the nation’s oldest law enforcement agencies continues to demand more funding.
The agency, which primarily protects national monuments in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco, is at its lowest staffing since 1975, according to Ken Spencer, president of the Fraternal Order of the Park Police.
“At the executive level, it feels like the staffing is so bad that it’s intentional,” he told Fox News Digital. “Holidays are always canceled. Vacations are frequently canceled. And day-to-day operations are… [are] It’s just not safe for our mission.”
Cruz criticizes National Park Service for ‘inadequate’ response to Hamas riots at Washington’s Union Station
Police officers are seen gathering at Union Station near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Parliament on July 24. (Hu Yousong/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“In 1975, the U.S. Park Police had a total of 547 officers nationwide,” Spencer told Fox News Digital. “Today, that number is 515, and it continues to decline. Despite years of raising serious concerns about staffing shortages, Congress, the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have made no reasonable effort to address this crisis.”
He said while the Park Police have allies in Congress, neither the Department of the Interior nor the National Park Service (NPS) have made adequate adjustments under the Biden administration despite years of requests for relief.
“Our police officers want the American people to know that there is legislation before Congress that will solve our staffing shortage problem for decades to come,” Spencer said. “Unfortunately, both parties have ignored the agency and the bill remains sitting idle. We hope that this incident will prompt members of Congress to pressure the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to finally address this serious flaw in federal law enforcement. Urgent action is needed to ensure the safety of our officers and the public we serve.”
On July 24, protesters burned an American flag outside Union Station after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress in Washington, DC. (Matthew Hatcher/via AFP)
Neither the Department of the Interior nor the National Park Service immediately responded to requests for comment. The FOP has previously said the agencies were “standing in the way” of the bill.
Following violent protests that erupted in response to Israeli Prime Minister Bayamin Netanyahu’s visit to the Capitol on July 24, in which an anti-Israel “mob of thousands” burned a U.S. flag, destroyed landmarks, and attacked police officers at Columbus Plaza, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., sent a fiery letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday demanding more funding for the USPP.
“I am once again writing to you with great concern regarding your failure to adequately address criminal and violent actions committed by pro-terrorist and anti-Israel protesters on federal property,” he wrote. “For the second time in two months, [USPP] Law enforcement remains inadequately resourced and under-equipped to protect the public and federal property from malicious mobs.”
Anti-Israel agitators stage massive protests in Washington DC during Netanyahu’s US visit
The U.S. Park Police is attempting to identify the individuals identified above who assaulted police officers and destroyed federal property on July 24 at Columbus Circle in Washington, DC. (U.S. Park Police)
The Park Police had only 29 officers present during the protest. Social Media Video shows chaotic conditions with at least one protester attacking a USPP officer in the back.
Spencer told Fox News Digital that those numbers weren’t enough to make the number of arrests needed to stop the unrest.
“This latest in a series of violent incidents on federal property in our nation’s capital is especially disturbing given that my repeated attempts to reach out for support for the USPP have been completely ignored,” Barrasso wrote.
On July 24, the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress, anti-Semitic demonstrators scrawled the word “Hamas” on the Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station in Washington, DC. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
The USPP has arrested 10 people during the clashes and is seeking the public’s help in identifying six suspects involved in the unrest, who are said to have assaulted police officers and damaged government property.
In a separate letter in February, Barrasso called on Haaland to address “alarming turnover rates, outdated pay structures and chronic staffing shortages.”
“The incident at Union Station marks the second time in two months that the U.S. Park Police have confronted violent protesters and hostile mobs. The Biden-Harris Administration is running for its ‘defund the police’ fools and leaving our police department alone. They have reduced police staffing to the lowest level in nearly 50 years. The Administration should do more to support law enforcement, who are tasked with protecting our nation’s treasures and symbols of our democracy. It is thanks to the swift and decisive action of our officers that more people were not injured and federal property was not completely destroyed,” Barrasso told Fox News Digital.
In his own letter, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called on National Park Service Director Chuck Sams to explain why the service was short-staffed during the same riot.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas, left) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo., right) attend a press conference in Washington, DC on October 31, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“According to the USPP Union, [Park Police] “Officers were on the scene to respond to large protests, even though it was foreseeable that the situation would quickly escalate into a riot,” he wrote. “This contrasts with preparations made by other organizations that anticipated resources would be strained: Amtrak police increased police presence at Union Station five-fold and made arrangements to secure additional resources.”
Cruz wrote that protest organizers had requested a permit for 5,000 protesters, roughly 200 times the police presence.
“Given the USPP’s limited resources, the NPS and Department of the Interior should have requested additional assistance from other law enforcement agencies in the region, as the U.S. Capitol Police and Amtrak did,” Cruz wrote. “Furthermore, while the USPP union is concerned about budget constraints, the NPS could have hired more officers to prepare for this incident.”
U.S. Park Police officers react as they remove a handcuffed protester during a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, DC, on July 24. (Reuters/Seth Herold)
In a statement earlier this month, the USPP FOP warned that understaffing issues are not only putting officers and the public at risk, but also national historic sites.
The agency has just 515 officers nationwide and is responsible for patrolling federal landmarks around New York City, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
A US Park Police officer points a pepper spray canister at a protester during a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, DC, on July 24. (Reuters/Seth Herold)
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The Park Police also have jurisdiction over Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, a federal property that houses thousands of migrants. The Park Police has only two officers guarding the refuge, which Spencer said has led to an increase in crime in the surrounding area.
