U.S. Capitol Police Start Posting Reports Online Amid Transparency Push
The U.S. Capitol Police are responding to pressure to make the law enforcement agency more transparent.
For the first time, the U.S. Capitol Police started releasing reports from its Office of Inspector General to the public. Thirty-eight (38) such reports are now available online, with more than one hundred others still to be released.
The agency also implemented a process for members of the public to request information, similar to requesting documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Law enforcement and good government advocates have called for more transparency on the force for years, which became amplified following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
That attack resulted in the fatal shooting of rioter Ashli Babbitt.
The 2,000 strong police force, charged with protecting members of Congress and also handling routine policy work on and around Capitol Hill, is not required by law to release IG reports to the public, unlike many other agencies. It’s also not required to release body cam footage and arrest reports since it’s not subject to FOIA.
Instead, disclosure was up to the agency’s board, which had wide ranging discretion to keep things hidden if they wanted to, especially for national security and other reasons.
Accountability advocates say it’s a first step.
“This was a huge effort -- we have the FOIA regs (that are iffy) and also they're now disclosing USCP IG reports, if not fully. PROGRESS,” said Daniel Schuman, Executive Director of the American Governance Institute in a statement to FEDagent.
But others demand that more is done, including the head of the Capitol Police union, who say the IG needs to be independent.
“In order to have true transparency within the organization, you need a separate entity investigating the department,” said Capitol Police Labor Committee head Gus Papathanasiou. “And we really don’t have that within this agency.”