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Thoughts on Capitol Hill situation
The National Guard has been called in, to be mistreated and guard against... what, exactly? The Capitol Hill police have 2,000 sworn officers (more than, in my case, patrol the entire of Pima County and the city of Tucson, an area with a million people, larger than some states), who keep the peace on Capitol Hill, an area of two square miles.
If they are not enough, the Park Police and DC Metropolitan Police Department (3,800 sworn officers, for an area of about 80 square miles) have concurrent jurisdiction there. If you need some kick-ass enforcement, the Park Police have a SWAT team and a motorcycle division, which are basically bikers with the arrest power (in my day they even had a biker clubhouse, I won't say what they used for a urinal). They even can call in the cavalry, with their mounted police.
Then of course all the federal agencies, including Secret Service Uniform Division, which are regularly called in during terrorism alerts. If there is one place in the US that has no shortage of civilian LEOs, and ones with riot control experience, it is the two square miles of Capitol Hill! By the way, when Park Police cleared a recent riot, legislators griped that they were too vigorous and so very nasty about it.
The Park Police attorneys (National Capitol Region Branch) told me that back in the 60s one chief had to replace his pants after every riot, because he'd split the seams literally kicking ass... and one time they annoyed the DC government, which sent observers in a car, and when they refused to move it a park policeman just dropped a tear gas grenade in it. Almost impossible to get tear gas particles out of an automobile.
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The Capitol police department is funded at a level approximately equivalent to the Denver PD... $460 million for the Capitol, $426 million for Denver.
Denver has a population of around 600k, and an area of around 160 sq miles.
The capitol complex has a (part-time) population of around 5000, and an area of approximately 1/3 of a square mile (270 acres).
We are not getting our money's worth.
You might add USDA to the list of LEOs. Inspectors are allowed to carry firearms, and if what I have been told is correct, are frequently used to guard members of Congress.
Treasury has their own armed, sworn police as well.
“ We are not getting our money's worth.”
Keep in mind: that 2 square miles does contain 535 of the worst criminals in the country.
Read somewhere that the budget for the Secret Service is so large that it is secret.
Well, they have enough wire up for a Supermax
@anon
More than 535 criminals if you count all the staff. Probably gets close to the 5000 number that FlightERdoc cites.
Lots of theories, such as protection from "armed insurrection" or because any illegitimate gov't needs to surround themselves with troops to insulate them form the people seeking redress of their grievances. My favorite is they aren't there to keep people out, they are there to keep Biden from wandering off and having to call a silver alert.