In testimony ready for her video look earlier than the Home Appropriations Committee, Chief Pittman additionally steered that officers had been und
In testimony ready for her video look earlier than the Home Appropriations Committee, Chief Pittman additionally steered that officers had been underequipped for the violence they confronted and didn’t have easy accessibility to the extra provides of chemical sprays and different substances they wanted to disperse the group. “As a substitute, the division needed to ship in personnel to reload our officers,” she stated.
Communications additionally faltered, she stated, with some officers unable to listen to on their radios over the din of the group. “With no clear line of communication, officers had been working with restricted details about what was occurring and with little instruction from management,” she stated.
Among the many greatest issues, she steered, was a delayed response to a plea from her predecessor, Steven Sund, who was chief on the day of the assault and resigned in its aftermath, for the deployment of Nationwide Guard troops to assist.
Two days earlier than the assault, Chief Sund requested that the Capitol Police Board declare a state of emergency and authorize a request to safe Nationwide Guard assist. The board denied the request, based on Chief Pittman’s testimony, however inspired Chief Sund to contact the Nationwide Guard to find out what number of members may very well be despatched to the Capitol on brief discover, which he did.
As the group grew to become an rising menace to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Chief Sund requested for extra assist from federal businesses and legislation enforcement businesses within the space. “He additionally lobbied the board for authorization to usher in the Nationwide Guard, however he was not granted authorization for over an hour,” Chief Pittman stated.
Based on a timeline the Protection Division supplied to the committee, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser sought assist from the Military at 1:34 p.m., and Chief Sund known as for the D.C. Nationwide Guard at 1:49 p.m. However the Military didn’t approve deploying the Guard till three p.m. and its members didn’t arrive on the Capitol to assist till 5:40 p.m., greater than 4 hours after Ms. Bowser’s plea.
Two of the members of the Capitol Police Board on the time of the assault have already resigned: Paul D. Irving, the Home sergeant-at-arms, and Michael C. Stenger, the Senate sergeant-at-arms. The third member, J. Brett Blanton, the architect of the Capitol, continues to be on the board. Mr. Blanton stated in an announcement that he was not included in any discussions about deploying the Nationwide Guard.