Democrats Sound Alarm Over Trump Administration’s Rapid U.S. Park Police Expansion
The Trump Administration’s efforts to staff up the U.S. Park Police is raising alarm among Senate Democrats. The U.S. Park Police functions under the National Park Service with officers stationed in Washington, DC, New York City, and San Francisco.
The administration wants to effectively double the number of U.S. Park Police officers from about 400 employees when President Trump took office to about 800. It’s offering a signing bonus as high as $70,000 and a streamlined, virtual hiring process. Applicants are also allowed to submit a “self-attestation” in place of an in-person physical fitness test.
Four Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum questioning the motives behind the hiring surge.
“There is no evidence of an uptick in crime on park service land or increased threats to national monuments – this haste in both a hiring spree and waiving of critical testing and standards are clear signs that the administration is hijacking this federal police force for its own authoritarian purposes,” wrote Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The Senators demanded the administration suspend the hiring surge. They’re also asking for more information about the Park Police’s role in Washington, whether analysis was conducted to justify the hiring, why hiring standards were changed, and plans for collaboration with police departments.
Interior Department Spokesperson Aubrie Spady told GovExec that the request was “disgraceful.”
“The Trump administration cares about ensuring the safety of all Americans and will continue to hire more U.S. Park Police officers and crack down on crime to ensure D.C. is the safest capital in the world,” said Spady.
While the Park Police is tasked with protecting national parkland and monuments, the agency has tightened its relationship with law enforcement since President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, DC, in August.
The park police union meanwhile says the hiring is necessary after decades of understaffing.
Kenneth Spencer, chief of staff for government affairs at the U.S. Park Police Fraternal Order of Police and former union chairman, said in a statement to the Washington Post, “We invite any Senator who signed this letter to ride with our officers, talk to residents, and see what is actually happening. Not one has asked.”