U.S. Park Police Union Demands Staffing Increase

The U.S. Park Police union believes the department doesn’t have enough staff or support from the National Park Service to do its job. The complaint was made public Thursday in a letter detailing the agency’s response to recent extreme weather.

“Park Service leadership should be ashamed of their reckless negligence for public safety,” Chair of the U.S. Park Police Fraternal Order of Police Ken Spencer stated.

The letter — addressed to the department’s acting chief and copied to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city’s Congressional delegate — details issues Spencer said are long-standing and limit the department’s ability to function adequately in the D.C. region, WTOP reports.

“The continued reckless neglect by the Department of Interior and the National Park Service has reached crisis levels,” he said.