[Scan-DC] U.S. Capitol PD

[Alan Henney]

Interesting commentary from the U.S. Capitol Police chief.

Do they really have that much radio interoperability?  We know they have MPD radios in some vehicles.  But I have never heard USCPD on US Park or Amtrak channels.  What about Secret Service and DHS/FPS?

Alan



Political Transcript Wire

May 18, 2016 Wednesday

REP. CANDICE S. MILLER HOLDS A HEARING ON THE U.S. CAPITOL POLICE'S MANAGEMENT PLAN

LENGTH: 9191 words

DATELINE: Lanham 

FULL TEXT

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION HOLDS A HEARING ON THE U.S. CAPITOL POLICE'S MANAGEMENT PLAN

MAY 17, 2016

SPEAKERS: REP. CANDICE S. MILLER, R-MICH. CHAIRMAN REP. GREGG HARPER, R-MISS. REP. RICH NUGENT, R-FLA. REP. BARBARA COMSTOCK, R-VA. REP. RODNEY DAVIS, R-ILL. REP. ROBERT A. BRADY, D-PA. RANKING MEMBER REP. ZOE LOFGREN, D-CALIF. REP. JUAN C. VARGAS, D-CALIF.

WITNESS: MATTHEW VERDEROSA, CHIEF OF POLICE, UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE

[*] MILLER: I now call to order the Committee on House Administration for today's hearing on the U.S. Capitol Police. The hearing record will remain open for five legislative days so that members might submit any materials that they wish to be included. 

The quorum is present, so we might proceed. We're meeting today to hear from the new U.S. Capitol Chief of Police, Matt Verderosa. And as a committee, Chief, we certainly want to congratulate you on -- on your appointment and we are so looking forward to continuing to work with you shoulder-to-shoulder. So we appreciate you coming.

He's going to be talking, of course, today about his vision, his direction for the Capitol Police moving forward. Some of the specific items we hope to discuss today include the Capitol Polices' budgets, their priorities, recent security events, respective actions taken as well as the Capitol Police security initiatives, both current and future.

The Capitol Police is a law enforcement agency with a very unique mission, certainly. They're charged with protecting and serving the U.S. Capitol, the seed (ph) of our nation's democracy. And this is an institution, of course, the physical symbols of our free society.

Unfortunately, our institution of freedom and democracy also is a target. So there will always be need for security restrictions. But a complete ban on access would be extremely detrimental to the institution. The American people need to be able to access and to meet with their members of Congress.

Since Congress created the U.S. Capitol Police in 1828, they've worked very hard to fulfill this dual mission of safety and accessibility and we certainly understand that this is no small task. Each of us -- members, staff, and visitors alike -- have the utmost respect to the men and women who serve and protect our nation's capital.

We're holding today's hearing as part of our committee's responsibility for oversight and to review the safety and security of the Capitol and its facilities. Our last hearing actually with the Capitol Police was in May of 2015, and today the committee will hear from the new chief on the progress that's been made, his vision to continue to develop the force, the goals and priorities for the operation of the Capitol Police.

Our committee, of course, works with the Capitol Police on a daily basis to ensure that they have the tools that they need, the authority and the support that they need to keep our capital safe and secure for all.

The Capitol Police are responsible for reviewing security protocols necessary to keep the capitol safe and to ensure that those protocols are tested and deployed against any threats that we might face.

As with any law enforcement organization, the responsibility for meeting the mission begins and ends at the top, and that responsibility now rests with Chief Verderosa. The chief understands the security needs of the Capitol Complex. The chief has served in a number of roles within the Capitol Police since 1986. He's seen first hand how new and variable threats have only increased over the years.

And while there are some sensitive aspects about the operations and capabilities of the Capitol Police, there certainly are a number of items that we would like to discuss and receive an update as well, certainly about some of the various incidents that have happened.

I know we've had an opportunity, Chief, to talk, I think, privately with all of the members here about the shooting incident that occurred at the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center. And by the way, that -- I will just say before you even get the chance that your -- your staff, your Capitol Police, that thing happened by the book. They did such a fantastic job of reacting and responding. I mean, that thing you could -- you could write a book. That thing was perfect to that -- that response.

As well, we had all of these protests -- week-long protests that happened recently here. We might like to hear about when you were processing such large numbers of arrests, how -- how that all went. Lessons learned, perhaps, for that.

Also, about your leadership team. How your strategic plan, your goals and objectives, training, monitoring threats across the campus as well. We've talked a little bit about garage security. I don't know if you want to touch on that today. That's -- that's always an issue. Something that we all met about again recently, and I know you've met with many members about that as well as our Sergeant at Arms is very, very involved in that as well.

So I -- I will also say, before I ask my ranking member to make a comment, I think since the gyrocopter incident, we have all seen, as members of Congress here, an increased amount of communication from the U.S. Capitol Police on various incidents.

In fact, we -- we probably get almost more information than we need sometimes. But more is better, and so I'm certainly very appreciative of that. I don't think any member wants to be in a position where we're watching something unfold on a Capitol lawn on -- whether it's Fox News or CNN or -- or whatever you're watching.

So that, I think, is very much appreciated as well. And so this committee, of course, Chief, is here to assist the Capitol Police because we all share a common goal, and that's protecting the U.S. Capitol Campus and everyone who works here and certainly all of the visitors, millions of visitors, that come here each and every year.

So we certainly thank the chief for his appearance here today. We're looking forward to his testimony. I'd like to recognize my ranking member, Mr. Brady, for his opening statement.

BRADY: Thank you, Madam Chair, for holding this very important hearing this morning.

Good to see you, Chief. Thank you for being here.

VERDEROSA: Morning, sir.

BRADY: I have a longer statement for the record, but I want to comment briefly and thank the chief for how visible he has been with the congressional community.

Your predecessor was here three and a half years. I think I met him one time toward the end of his tenure. You've been here three months, I've met with you four times. I appreciate that.

As a son of a police officer, I know how hard your job can be. And I've heard from (inaudible) members about a positive change in the tone at the top of the organization and my staff advise me that we are all working very well together. So thank you for that.

I would also like to thank you for traveling to Philadelphia last month and for taking the time to meet with our mayor, Jim Kenney, and myself to talk about congressional security at the convention.

I would like to mention for this to the benefit of my Republican colleagues that our security professionals in Philadelphia were very impressed with the chief and our Sergeant at Arms. I thank him for coming up and seeing (ph) some of Philadelphia. You, again, show the proper respect to all our members. We appreciate you.

So that will speak very well for you in your convention in -- in Cleveland also. Thank you for your service and I look forward to hearing from your statement (ph).

VERDEROSA: Thank you, sir.

MILLER: Thank the gentleman. I think both of those conventions are going to go absolutely smooth, right? Just smooth.

(LAUGHTER)

Any other member wish to make an opening statement or comment? OK. Let me formally introduce the chief.

On March 21, 2016, the chief was sworn in as the new Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. Chief Verderosa is the ninth chief and had been serving as the Assistant Chief of Police since April of 2015.

The chief has served in numerous roles with the U.S. Capitol Police since 1986, including positions in the Uniformed and Patrol Division, the Internal Affairs Division, the Training and Services Bureau. In addition, he commanded the U.S. Capitol Polices' Review Task Force before becoming Assistant Chief.

And as Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Chief Verderosa is responsible for commanding a force of sworn (ph) and civilian personnel who are dedicated to providing comprehensive law enforcement, security and protective operation services to the U.S. Congress members, staff, and as I said, millions of annual visitors as well, and to the surrounding complex also.

So again, we certainly thank you for joining us, Chief. We have your written testimony. You can -- the floor is yours. Take as much time as you need. We appreciate you coming.

VERDEROSA: Thank you, ma'am. I certainly appreciate the opportunity to be here. Good morning members and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee to discuss the United States Capitol Police.

I'm joined here today by the department's Chief Administrative Officer, Mr. Richard Braddock, Deputy Chief Richard Rudd, Deputy Chief Fred Rogers and also Deputy Chief Chad Thomas, who is staffing the airwaves right now watching operations while I'm here.

Also with me is our General Counsel, Gretchen DeMar, and from the -- and members of -- representatives from the Department's Office of Inspector General. Also, I'd like to welcome other members of my executive management team.

And also attending today, and I appreciate their -- their presence here today, our FOP Chairman, Jim Konczos, of our Labor Committee and Gus Papathanasiou, who's the Vice Chairman -- first Vice Chairman. Also with us are members of the Teamsters, our other union with who we work with on a daily basis.

I'd like to thank the committee for their steadfast support of the United States Capitol Police. The regular discussions that we have with you and your staff about our programs and management of our mission are greatly valued and I'm very grateful for the committee's engagement and feedback so that we can continuously meet the need and expectations of Congress.

Secondly, I'd like to recognize the men and women of the United States Capitol Police. Everyday, they publicly demonstrate how American freedoms that we all hold dear are carried out in our nation's capitol.

They work tirelessly to ensure that the Congress can conduct its legislative responsibilities without disruption, all the while exhibiting the utmost respect for the Constitution and the protection of First Amendment liberties. I'm thoroughly impressed with their performance of which -- which is both seen and unseen by the public and the community, and I'm thankful for their desire to constantly rise to the occasion and handle whatever comes our way.

I've been in federal law enforcement for over 30 years serving in a number of roles. And now as Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, I have the responsibility to you, to the members of Congress, the Capitol Police Board, the congressional staff, the visitors and my employees to do everything possible to protect and safeguard everyone everyday in a unique and open environment.

The threats and risks we face today are dynamic, they're changing, they're sophisticated and they create a greater need for focus on national security. Coordinating with the Capitol Police Board and consulting with our committees of jurisdiction, including this committee, the Committee on House Administration, we have developed a four-year strategy that provides for growth of the department to fulfill three new mission sets in an effort to further enhance a successful, long-term protection of the Capitol Complex.

These mission sets are the result of a constant threat analysis, including intelligence gathered by our partners globally and nationally. And they -- these -- these initiatives consist of the following: enhanced garage security, as we've talked about on several occasions, pre-screeners and additional over-watch personnel at various building access points, and also the use -- further use of the enhanced portal screeners that we employed for the first time during the State of the Union.

Members and staff will see several enhancements as a result of the three initiatives. There will be a -- a visible security screening at House garage entry points and a more significant officer presence outside Capitol Complex doors and access points, including additional K-9 teams and subject to interdiction officers.

Visitors entering the House Chamber for major events will undergo additional screening through enhanced portal scanners, further keeping potential threats away from the House of Representatives and the floor of the House.

There's been much discussion regarding resources for the department and the long-term viability of these initiatives. As the Chief of Police and as a -- a steward of the taxpayers' dollars, it's my fiduciary responsibility to look at every possibility within existing assets to accomplish our mission before I seek additional assets and resources.

The Congress has been very generous to the department and I will do my due diligence to first look within and not request something unless it is truly needed. One of the tough decisions I've had to make to meet the new mission sets within our current resources is to find staffing to -- to accomplish some of the additional screening requirements within our existing budget.

To do this, and after discussing my concept with Chairman Konczos of the FOP Labor Committee, I have determined that -- that it's most appropriate to modify some of our off-post time rotations in the Uniform Services Bureau from the current standard of a one to four rotation to a one to five during shifts when the majority of officers are working, Monday through Friday, day and evenings. This will make additional man power available and will result in only approximately 10 minutes less off-post time or standby time for employees.

While these enhancements come -- with these enhancements come important opportunities. The modification of off-post rotations will result in more specialty job opportunities for employees throughout the department, specifically in the area of K-9 and subject interdiction. These officers will provide police coverage in zones outside access points to the Complex.

I should note that this change does not alter the long-standing contractual obligations with our CBA and the off-post time remains well above the minimum required by the collective bargaining agreement for the purposes of conducting and service training, allowing for appropriate relief time for officers who -- who routinely are focused on -- on working the security equipment.

With some additional resources, they will be necessary in the out years to complete the initiatives and to provide stationary posts. I'm confident in the department's ability to meet these new mission sets and will continue to look for ways to offset any cost of potential reapportionment of how we assign personnel.

In the months ahead, we have a number of high profile protective events that will require much attention and man power resources. Later this month, the annual Memorial Day rehearsal and concert will take place, followed by the Fourth of July celebration on the West Front of the Capitol.

In July, the department will also be focusing its attention on the two presidential nominating conventions in Cleveland, Ohio and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where we'll be protecting members of Congress.

In addition, we are officially planning the 58th inaugural of the president of the United States, which takes place on January 20, 2017. While this national special security event takes place on Capitol grounds every four years, it's prudent and necessary to begin preparations early enough to ensure absolute success in the execution of this significant mission set.

As a former commander of the department's policy and planning operations, I fully understand the importance of setting meaningful performance metrics focused on outcomes rather than outputs.

We are currently in the process of building the foundation to better collect, analyze and share the data that we collect department- wide with the ultimate goal of having information that allows my staff to better -- to be better informed in making management and security decisions.

The department is also actively engaged in addressing and resolving recommendations made by the Office of the Inspector General. Since 2006, the USCP Inspector General has made 310 recommendations to the department. We've closed 255 by fully implementing the recommendations. We are actively working on closing the remaining 55 open recommendations and annually, I'll continue to propose key areas for the Inspector General to examine so that she and her team can assist me in making needed changes that will make us a better department. In closing, I want to share with you some of my priorities for the near term. I've always believed that the department's mission is -- is simple, yet extremely critical.

I want to get back to the basics and not over-complicate policing. I want to leverage existing resources in the law enforcement community to become smarter and more efficient, especially in the area of intelligence gathering. I plan to place a greater emphasis on training to help our workforce remain focused and to fight complacency and to ensure that supervisors are prepared to manage.

These are the basic areas that I will focus on during the next year. Finally, I think it's important to discuss and mention the March 28, 2016 shooting incident in the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center. From all practical perspectives, I want to say that the screening process works.

We had an -- we had an -- on that day, we had an individual intent on wreaking havoc. He was detected to be carrying a weapon during the process we employ each day to screen people visiting the Capitol Complex. We were prepared, we responded appropriately and should serve as a lesson to others who may want to come to The Hill to do harm. Our highly trained officers will -- will stop those individuals who wish to do us harm.

I'm extremely proud of the officers involved in this incident and I'm grateful to our partner agencies for their assistance both throughout the event and following the -- the incident.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to testify here today about the United States Capitol Police. I'm truly humbled to be here and I would be pleased to answer any questions you have.

MILLER: Thank you very much, Chief.

I would ask, you know, we mentioned about better communication from the U.S. Capitol Police to all the members of Congress. But if you could perhaps expand on that a bit of -- of how your agency communicates and how you work with your -- your brother agencies here locally.

For instance, you know, when -- when we had the Navy Yard incident and just communicating with the D.C. police or other agencies as well. How is -- how is that all working?

VERDEROSA: Certainly. We have a very good relationship with our partner agencies here in D.C. Particularly, the Metropolitan Police, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service, Federal Protective Service, Supreme Court Police.

We have communications -- interoperable communications with our -- with our partner agencies. We have a direct switch line to the Secret Service, the Metropolitan Police, the Park Police.

We work very closely with -- we're embedded with several FBI task forces -- the JTTF. And we have an ongoing relationship with the Supreme Court and the Federal Protective Service, and they actually man our command center on a regular basis -- on a daily basis so that we have direct communications.

We also work with other agencies on an ad-hoc basis. We have interoperable radio communications with most of the local agencies and we're working to solidify further the ability to communicate directly from a command perspective.

We meet regularly with the Metropolitan Police and their law enforcement partners meeting every Monday. I attend various meetings as do my subordinate officials at -- at a multitude of levels on a multitude of issues regarding the ongoing law enforcement issues, threats and events that are occurring throughout the District of Columbia.

We certainly have lessons learned from all of these major events, including the Navy Yard -- the second Navy Yard incident. And the difference between the first and second in terms of communication was -- was -- was extreme. Incident command, as a matter of fact, Deputy Chief Rogers was Incident Commander for the -- Command Post Representative for the United States Capitol Police during that second ongoing Navy Yard issue.

So we have -- we all employ Incident Command System processes for leadership and command -- area (ph) command and we communicate on a regular and daily basis during events and during the off times. Off shoot (ph) of some of the gyrocopter incident was communication with the community. We have improved our -- our messaging matrix and I apologize if we give you too much. I'd rather have you have too much than too little.

Obviously, it's important that you know what's going on for situational awareness and for the effect that incidents have on the legislative process. We take great strides to make sure that you have the information that you need, both on the House side and the Senate side.

We are looking -- we shortly will have a -- a joint congressional messaging process that is being worked on jointly with all of the stakeholders, and I look forward to that. So that will cut out some of the -- if there is delay, it will certainly cut out redundancy and it will be more efficient.

MILLER: You know, if I could ask just one other question, Chief, and I appreciate the answer to the first one. But you know, we -- we talk about investment with the U.S. Capitol Police and certainly, there's no second for investing in people and all kinds of technology that can assist you, resourcing you properly.

I'll tell you, the K-9s are unbelievable. I mean, what a critical component. I mean, those dogs can just find things that no computer can, it seems like, right?

VERDEROSA: Oh, absolutely.

MILLER: How do you do with the K-9s? Do you need more of them? Is that an area of -- how do you see that unfolding, if you...

VERDEROSA: We are expanding our K-9 capability by -- by six dogs in the near term. Part of that is the traditional EOD type sweeps, and we have some other new techniques that we use, which I'd be happy to discuss offline, which will -- it just contributes to being a force multiplier for us in terms of what we do.

Absolutely, the dogs are invaluable. They can do many things that -- that humans can't. They detect things at long distances. They can detect things that we obviously would -- would not know were there. So we -- we do literally hundreds of thousands of sweeps every year with the dogs. And again, they're invaluable to us.

We have a very -- we currently have an opening in our -- and we get tremendous competition for the openings in the K-9 unit. It's really truly incredible.

MILLER: Right. Thank you very much.

I recognize our ranking member, Mr. Brady.

BRADY: Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chief, as you know, I do represent Philadelphia and thank you for your visit. That's where the Democratic National Convention will take place. But I would like for you to discuss your preparations from the -- from the Capitol Police perspective. Not only in Philadelphia, but also in Cleveland. What -- what were your preparations there?

VERDEROSA: Absolutely. Our convention planning is well underway. We've been working -- our Dignitary Protection Division has the lead. They employ -- the Secret Service is the lead planner for both events, both in Philadelphia and in Cleveland.

As part of the NSSE broad approach and committee approach, we planned these -- we plan these events within that framework. So we have employed the NSSE framework for any number of major events, including previous conventions, State of the Union addresses and the inaugurals. And it's really a sound system that we cover all bases.

Our Dignitary Protection Division has made multiple visits to both venues, both cities. They have procured the requisite lodging and we are in the process of designing a security plan for those specific venues, both the actual convention venues and any insulary (ph) venues that -- for events that are occurring outside of the main -- the main venue.

I appreciate the opportunity to travel to Philadelphia and meet with you and I appreciate the introduction that you gave us to the Philadelphia officials. It helped me tremendously in my ability to communicate the message to my troops and to make sure that we're doing all the things that we need to do.

We are going to be traveling to -- either myself or representatives along with the House Sergeant at Arms and other stakeholders -- to Cleveland in the very near future, just as we did in the Philadelphia trip.

We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners -- both state, local, and federal -- to ensure that the security plan for the member protection and -- and that's the reason we're going to be there, to make sure that the members of Congress have a safe event and we can protect the interests of our -- our statutory protectees.

We will continue to regularly brief the Capitol Police Board and my staff is available to brief the committee at your request on the status of the planning.

BRADY: Thank you, Chief.

Also, it goes without saying -- you brought here -- you have a pretty good relationship with -- with the other unions, the Teamsters and the -- and the police unions. But -- and I also know because they're not knocking down my door. They have been for the last three years, every other month coming in and, you know, trying to complain about what we're going to do to be helpful. That's not happening so I know you're doing a good job.

But just tell me, how often do you meet with your reps?

VERDEROSA: I meet -- I meet with Chairman Konczos and his team -- it's -- it's about every two weeks. But in between, his staff and my staff are working on issues. Dominic Storelli, former of House Administrations, is my Chief of Staff and he works directly with Jim on a number of issues.

I meet on a number of issues, whether it's contract negotiations or -- or just daily grievance type issues. The philosophy for me, and I've known Chairman Konczos and Gus Papathanasiou for -- for many years, particularly Jim for almost 30 years, and we have a mutual respect for each other's positions. I've asked Jim to be here today and I appreciate his attendance.

Since I was appointed, we reinstituted the regular meetings. I plan on continuing the regular meetings. We also believe -- I think we both believe that there's significant common ground that we can address issues, try to -- excuse me -- resolve issues at the lowest level before they become grievances. And we work on things of mutual -- mutual interest.

Of course, we'll probably disagree on some issues. But I think we have the kind of relationship that we'll be able to work through those issues in an amicable way and -- and try to do what's best for the Congress.

BRADY: Thank you, Chief. And thank the men for the job that you do every single day and it's a pleasure to be working with you.

Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

MILLER: Mr. Harper is recognized.

HARPER: Thank you, Madam Chair. And Chief, thank you for being here. I -- I know this has been a -- a very sobering weekend with a memorial service that was Sunday and how that, I know, means so much to you and your attendance we greatly appreciate.

You know, last week the House passed some important bills and one of which was to fund the Bulletproof Vest Program to help local law enforcement with that lifesaving bulletproof vest -- to help on those funding issues there.

And I -- and I know you and I had an opportunity meet and I want to thank you for coming to my office and for us having that opportunity. And as I told you in that meeting, if -- if I had an issue or a problem, I'm going to come to you. We'll discuss it. I won't be running to the press to talk about it. You and I will have a chance to do that and I want to reiterate that here.

But what can we do as a committee and as individual members of Congress to help you do your job? And I'm not talking about the funding issues.

VERDEROSA: Sure.

HARPER: What else can we do?

VERDEROSA: I thank you for meeting with me both privately and -- and -- and for your comments today, sir. I -- I appreciate the committee's support and -- on initiatives, on whether it's broad security or portal scanners or any of the other issues that come up.

When -- it's interesting because it's such a large institution and I have a very large workforce. Sometimes it takes a little while for information to filter down. We're working on the communication piece. But it's also incumbent on us to assist the Sergeant at Arms on both sides and the leadership to communicate the message of any changes that we do.

Change does not come easy for people, both within the department and in general. I know that I have a 24-year-old, it's hard to -- to change anything and -- without an argument or -- or a reason. I have to explain my reasoning and I -- I try to do that because it's -- it's the right thing to do.

I want to be able to communicate changes and that's one of the reasons that I do meet with -- with the union leadership. I want to have that open communication but I also want to have that with the community. And I intend to -- to continue to visit member offices and -- and try to advise you all, everybody -- both on the committee and off -- on what we're doing and why we do things.

Because I think if you have the information, it helps -- it helps sell the message and it helps us change, sort of, the mindset whether we're going to institute new -- new operations or new procedures.

So I -- I appreciate the opportunity to be able to come to the members and -- and be able to explain why we do things. I think it's important to maintain that communication.

HARPER: Chief, the firearm qualifications -- certifications are very important and I know we're in interim here...

VERDEROSA: Yes.

HARPER: ... with the -- the range being out of place. Tell me what you're doing in the -- in the interim and how the new facility will be an improvement over the old.

VERDEROSA: Appreciate -- appreciate the -- the question, sir.

We are in our current cycle, even though we're -- we're off-site, in the interim while our range is down and we're -- we're preparing for the opening -- the reopening of the new range. I want to thank the Congress and -- and the architect for providing the -- the funds and the space and the -- the ability to have a range that is so close to where we work.

What it does for us is it helps us minimize the impact of having our -- our sworn workforce off the grounds in a status that's either not working or in training. It's travel time, it's -- it really helps us to have the range here.

We had the old range in the Rayburn for over 50 years. And we -- we got tremendous amount of use out of the range and I -- I couldn't even quantify how much time and effort we've saved by having the range locally.

And our goal is to have the new range open up soon, by Labor Day, and have it in use for at least another 50 years. It will certainly outlast me. But so far in this -- in this cycle, we have qualified 87 percent of -- of the police department.

Now, we've reaped some benefit even though there's a little bit of cost associated with sending them out to Cheltenham, Maryland, where our -- our entry-level academy is. We have maximized the use of that time by -- by continuing the training day. So we -- we send officers out for the entire day rather than have them traveling back to The Hill.

So we -- we -- we leverage the ability to use some more of our training time during that extra day. I look forward to having the range back here on The Hill. Though as you can see, we probably will be able to finish our current cycle by -- by June 1st, hopefully. If not, sometime in June.

And then we'll move on to the second. We have biannual -- semi- annual qualifications. So we shoot twice a year in the fiscal year and we are a little bit off the cycle. However, with the indulgence of stakeholders, we have a -- a great plan to get the range up and running and it really will provide us with the ability to change how we train. It's a dynamic range and it's really helpful for us to be able to tactically use a range.

HARPER: Right. Thank you, Chief. And I yield back.

MILLER: Chair recognizes Ms. Lofgren.

LOFGREN: Thanks very much and a welcome to you, Chief, it's good to meet you. And I'm hoping that at some point, we can have a closed session with the chief because there's some questions that probably wouldn't be smart to ask in a public environment but that we should get the answers to.

Just two things. I was concerned in discussing this with the prior chief, that although there was communication with other law enforcement agencies, there didn't appear to be a written mutual aid (ph) protocol. And so I'm interested in not going through it today but in reviewing that with you in terms of the protocol. What it is and how it's communicated to our workforce, number one.

And number two, I'm wondering if the department has ideas on how the physical layout of the plant might -- the campus -- might be adjusted to enhance safety and also to enhance the capacity of your members to do their job?

VERDEROSA: Certainly, the physical security is -- is one of our -- our main issues. We have a very robust physical security -- Security Services Bureau, and they handle all of the physical security aspects working very closely with the Architect of the Capitol.

The -- the measures that were put in place post-9/11 have really -- we are at the life cycle end of a lot of the life. We're looking at -- at -- at doing life cycle replacement. Of course, it's always a very expensive issue, but it's -- it's certainly something that is very necessary.

LOFGREN: Let me -- let me interrupt because I don't think I was clear on my question. For example, where is the perimeter? You can't really -- I mean, we respect the Fourth Amendment. You have to have a rationale for inquiring, but at the perimeter of the facility, you don't.

So where are the perimeters set? And how -- how should they be set?

VERDEROSA: Sure.

LOFGREN: And how would that make a difference for -- for your troops in terms of level of securities in garages? We have garages that, you know, have nothing above them. We have garages that have, you know, an office building above them.

VERDEROSA: Yes.

LOFGREN: How -- you know, what kind of deployment makes sense in -- in each one? Those are the things I was thinking of.

VERDEROSA: Sure. Absolutely. Of course, we always balance the open (ph) campus with the level of security that we provide and it's very important to maintain and it's very difficult.

You're absolutely right. It's a very difficult balance for our -- our officers. We don't have a physical fence. We don't have structures that prevent people from walking across the East Front, West Front.

We use our -- our human (ph) intuitive capability and we deploy personnel, obviously, within the framework of the infrastructure. Whether it's the Olmstead Wall (ph) or whether it's physical barriers that we install -- bollards (ph), barriers that pop up. For vehicular threats and those types of things, we have to be, obviously, very cognizant of the effect that security has on the openness and the ability for constituents to visit members.

LOFGREN: Of course.

VERDEROSA: And it's -- it's a -- it's a -- it's a very huge competing interest in the security issue. So we focus our main thrust and -- and concentration on the largest threats. And we're always looking for the individual threat, which is one of the -- one of the -- the greatest threats that we have these days -- individual.

But we have to balance it and accept a -- a -- a modicum of risk in terms of the physical structures that we put in to prevent people from approaching the building.

We do work with -- very closely with both this committee and the Senate Rules Committee -- Committee on Rules and Administration. So to work on those issues, whether it's expanding the perimeter, allowing access close into the building, or whether it's initiatives to do inspection of things that people bring with them to the grounds.

So it's a -- it's a very tenuous line that we -- we walk and we -- we -- we take a very -- very hard look at any type of procedure we're going to employ that could come close to -- you know, could be perceived as a violation of the Fourth Amendment. We certainly don't want to do anything that would be contrary to the Constitution.

So it's a work in progress. We -- we work on it continually. It's a conversation that I have with the -- with the Capitol Police Board on a regular basis and we will continue to have with the committees of jurisdiction.

LOFGREN: I see my time's expired. Perhaps we can pursue this further?

VERDEROSA: Absolutely.

LOFGREN: Thank you.

Thanks, Madam Chairwoman.

MILLER: Mr. Nugent?

NUGENT: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I appreciate you holding this. And Chief, welcome. VERDEROSA: Thank you, sir.

NUGENT: And I appreciate your time when you came up to visit with me in the office. And what a different approach -- I'll just say this, and I'm not blowing smoke, but what a different approach in regards to your approach and the prior chief with inclusion of the union in -- in, you know, a weekly or -- or whenever it's necessary discussion.

It -- it, you know, typically you're going to probably agree on more things than you're going to disagree. You're always going to have disagreement. I mean, that happens in the best of families.

But at the end of the day, you know, the rank and file folks out there doing the job everyday have some great ideas. And I think that you're moving absolutely in the right direction and I think we'll be much safer as members of Congress because of that collaboration between the two groups.

One of the things, you know, that still strikes me when we go back and look at past history and we had the chief here discuss that. Particularly, when we had, you know, loss of weapons and -- and things like that. But reading in an article where the -- you know, the person who sent the picture got how many months off without pay and demoted and the person who actually left a weapon unattended in a -- in a location that could be accessed by other folks received a -- a suspension, but -- but relatively minor in -- in scope.

And I guess I'm -- I'm still a little miffed at the fact that that supervisor got demoted but then also had a -- a huge suspension without pay. And I understand it's in litigation, so you probably can't talk about it but what I would hope just in the future that, you know, what that person did has actually brought out an issue that needed to be under the light of day so we all know. And we all, you know, take confidence in what goes on within the Capitol Police.

And I'll go along with Mr. Brady on this, I've -- I've not had any negative comments with the union at all, which is, you know, that's a testament to your leadership. I'll just be very blunt with that. That's a testament to your leadership and I hope that continues.

You know, one of the things that I know we talked about was, you know, management by walking around. Is walking around your organization and listening to the folks that -- you're only as good as the people you surround yourself with. And I would suggest that your leadership team do the same and -- and I'm sure they are under your leadership.

One of the things Ms. Lofgren had mentioned is, you know, security. And I think that's an issue that we all grapple with from, you know, time to time. And you're right, we have an open campus. But what exactly, as we move forward in regards to the underground facilities -- I know that we're -- the equipment is in place. When are we actually going to start to do that screening? VERDEROSA: We'll be doing the security screening with the appropriate communication first -- very soon. I can't give you a specific date. I'm working with Mr. Irving, the Sergeant at Arms, and we want to time it right so that we introduce the -- the screening process.

I know that people -- we've had some community meetings with the staff several weeks ago in terms of how we would roll it out. And I'm working very closely with Mr. Irving on exactly when we want to do it strategically so we cause the least amount of disruption to the business process of the community.

But I would expect some time in the next several weeks that we will -- we will do it and we'll certainly communicate it. I got that message loud and clear. We're going to make sure that we properly communicate and make sure everyone's aware of what we're going to do.

I do appreciate your comments about working with the union, sir. I, you know, I respect the troops. You know, I consider myself first and foremost a police officer and I'm prepared every time out on the street to take police action. I carry -- I don't have it today because I'm wearing this blouse but I carry my radio everyday. I monitor the radio and, you know, I take police action when I need to.

And I have tremendous respect for the work that we do here. I ask a lot of the troops. They are ambassadors. They still have to enforce the rules and the law and they deal with 10 to 12 million people a year, and that's just screening them through the process. There's probably another 10 million who walk through the grounds that we do -- we talk to, we interact with.

And I'm always amazed at how few complaints that we get from the citizens and the staff about, you know, courtesy or those types of things. You know, they -- they truly are ambassadors. They do hard work. They're focused on the X-ray machines and the magnetometers and it's a, you know, knowing that every time that they have to be 100 percent. They have to be sharp. So I appreciate members of both unions being here today and I appreciate the relationship I have with the officers.

I always hope to have a positive relationship. Obviously, there are things that we're going to disagree on and I have to make tough decisions and tough choices that affect people. But I never fall short of understanding that these are people. They're not numbers, they have families, they have ambition, they have interests. And to me, I try to treat people the way I want to be treated.

I'm not making a moral judgment on any previous chief or anybody else. It's just my approach to how I work with my -- my, you know, my staff. And I have -- I have leaders and deputy chiefs and -- and civilian directors who are out with the troops.

And I appreciate that comment as well because they're good role models. They're out amongst their troops. Again, we make management decisions and they're tough decisions and not everyone agrees on the best approach to how we get to that bottom line, but the officers are a great resource.

A great example of that is processing the 1,300 or so arrests that we had a couple of weeks ago during the -- the Democracy Spring demonstration period. Now this was non-violence civil disobedience. It was -- it was not -- it was non-confrontational for the most part and it took a lot of planning and effort and a lot of man power.

And it's not me making the arrests, it's the officers that come in early. It's the officers that have to be the arresting officer and it's -- it's the people who do the job that I respect -- I have so much respect for because it really -- I've worked the posts and I've done those jobs and, you know, it's on a Sunday. Sometimes you got to come in, you got to wake up early and you'd rather be doing something else.

But hey, it's why we get paid the big bucks and they do a tremendous job. But we took the concept and a new approach on how we -- we handle mass arrests. Other agencies in the city have had the ability to -- to cite and release people.

Traditionally here with the ways the rules are set up and the laws, we have had to have full custody arrests for -- for most of the arrestees that we -- that we -- that we handle, even in mass arrest civil disobedience situations, and it's tremendous in terms of time and effort. These are the same troops during that week that had to go day to day for about 10 days and be the same people being brought in early to handle these arrests.

So we took a concept that I thought could be employed. We borrowed and adapted the Metropolitan Police's PD 61D cite and release forms, their policy. We adapted them to ours. We worked with the Attorney General for the District of Columbia to make sure that we were using the appropriate charges. And when the law changed in 2013, it made it easier for us to use this process, so we employed it and we were able to expedite the process.

But the reason I bring this up is it really wasn't -- it wasn't me. I had the concept, but the officers are the ones who took -- even from the first day we had arrests, it took about eight hours to process 429 people. I mean, it doesn't seem like a lot of time, but when you look at how -- we would still probably be processing these arrests had we been using the old method -- the old mass arrest method.

In that short duration of one week, the officers came up with a great idea with -- with a couple of the lieutenants who were running the mission set and expedited the process. By the end of that -- that week, we processed 300 arrests in three hours, which is just phenomenal

And we had very few issues. And we will further refine the process based on the suggestions of the officers. So I agree with you that some of the best ideas come up from -- from -- from the ranks and rise through the ranks. So I -- I'm very appreciative of the effort of everybody on the CDU, the Civil Disturbance Unit. Switching gears on you for one second -- and yes, the case in the paper is in litigation. I would prefer not to talk about it, but the individual was on administrative leave with pay, it was not without pay...

NUGENT: OK.

VERDEROSA: ... for that period of time.

NUGENT: OK.

VERDEROSA: I just wanted to set the record straight on that.

NUGENT: And Chief, thanks for your comments. I appreciate the indulgence of the chair and maybe you ought to talk to your counterpart in the TSA in regards to listening to people that work there.

(LAUGHTER)

It would be helpful. Thank you.

MILLER: Mr. Vargas?

VARGAS: Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to -- to ask a few questions.

First of all, I'd like to thank you once again for meeting with me in my office, letting me know what you're doing and what you're planning to do and I appreciate -- that was very helpful, thank you.

Secondly, you weren't here earlier, but I -- I thank the Capitol Police. I think you've been doing a really terrific job and I appreciate that. I did want to mention one incident that -- that we had here.

A colleague of ours fell hard during one of the snow storms and hurt himself. He was found by another colleague of ours, but then quickly got a couple of police officers, your Capitol Police, to bring him inside. And they were very smart to figure out that he had some chest pains and didn't let him walk away as he wanted to walk away and said, "No, no, we're calling the medicals," and they did and they got the medical response team to come and again, appreciate their very professional work.

And you know, we would have probably allowed him to walk away and that would have been a very bad idea. So again, I think the police did a -- a fantastic job and I want to -- I want to thank them for that.

I do want to ask a little bit about the issue of the -- the open campus. You know, we -- I've been to the -- the Bundestag in Germany and they do put a fence around it. It's very difficult to access it. We see more and more -- they have a fence and now a double fence over around the -- the front of the White House. Obviously, that gives you a lot of protection but it also prevents people from actually accessing the White House, which at one point they had access to.

So there -- there is a balance there. And I -- I think it is important to give people the opportunity to come and visit their -- their, you know, their members of Congress and the Senate.

But you know, it is also interesting the issue of security. Not so much even for us, but those people that do come and visit us. And so anyway, I -- I appreciate that you said you give that a lot of interest, a lot of thought. Could you comment a little bit more on that, if you will?

VERDEROSA: Sure we -- we do try to leverage technology to the extent that we can. And believe me, it -- again, the force multiplier, technology, the system -- some of the systems that I prefer not to talk about in an open forum, but they're there for us to use and we do use them and we deploy them very effectively.

I think as technology increases and the -- the quality of the technology, I think we'll be able to leverage that. Obviously, there's no replacement for having an officer on the beat, on a fixed post or in a patrol area that will focus on the security particularly close in.

You know, we take a, sort of, a layered approach. We want to keep the threat as far away as we can, we push it out and as you get closer to the concentric circle, you -- you want to, you know, you want to have your assets.

We do leverage even the physical security aspects where we have barriers (ph) and kiosks. We have posts staffed and we use the buildings as, sort of, funnels and, you know, we can sort of keep eyes on people and individuals who approach from the various directions.

But again, we never want to -- we never want to trample on -- on the ability for people to visit. I'm not advocating putting up a fence or anything like that.

I think with our troops and, you know, a focus and a -- an approach where we maintain our -- our vigilance in terms of looking at the threat, training our employees to what to look for and being able to make sure that the troops are fresh and they are able to react appropriately.

I think with training and staffing, that combination, along with the physical security attributes that we have -- we've been provided with to protect the campus, I think that, you know, the ongoing conversation will continue with the Capitol Police Board and with the committees to ensure that we have all the things that we need, particularly technologically, that will help us and assist us so that we can leverage that without, sort of, closing the campus off.

So I know that it's sort of a work in progress. As the technology changes everyday, we want to be able to stay ahead of the curve and we want to keep our -- our finger on the pulse in terms of what's available to us to, sort of, use to leverage as a force multiplier. VARGAS: Well, again, thank you very much. And lastly, I know my time's about up, but I'd like to say this. Even though they -- they do monitor the threat, they're very polite and professional too, and I appreciate that. I know I've commented a couple people in particular and I appreciate their professionalism.

VERDEROSA: Thank you.

VARGAS: Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

MILLER: Thank the gentleman.

And Chief, again, we just want to thank you so much for coming today. We all are very desirous of looking forward to -- to working with you shoulder-to-shoulder. Not just you, but your management team and all the rank and file -- the union fellows that are here representing all the rank and files.

And just know that we appreciate it. Every one of us that's coming into these offices and these office buildings, the Capitol everyday. We -- we watch your folks day in and day out and do their jobs so professionally and bravely and well. And we all have a very high degree of comfort and security about the professionalism of the brave men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police force and -- and this committee stands by to assist you.

And one thing I would -- I would say, and I -- I know I've said this to you privately, I'll say it publicly as well. Don't sometimes wait for a hearing or wait for us to, you know, come forward with something. We -- we really want to know from you if there's a shortfall somewhere that you see as a particularly critical element of something that we better be aware of, we need to help with. That's -- that's why we're here. We all work together.

VERDEROSA: I sincerely appreciate the support and how cooperative the staff have been with me when I want to bring forward -- if I want to come meet with the members. I really sincerely appreciate the -- the opportunity to be here today. Thank you very much.

MILLER: Thank you very much.

Without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witness if we have any and we'll forward them and ask the chief to respond as promptly as he can so that any answers can be made as part of the record.

Without objection, this hearing is adjourned.

END