6 Months After Capitol Riot, Capitol Police Get New Chief

Politics|A seasoned constabulary main has been tapped to pb the Capitol Police, fractional a twelvemonth aft the Jan. 6 riot.

• July 22, 2021, 7:52 p.m. ET

J. Thomas Manger, a seasoned constabulary main of departments successful the Washington, D.C., region, has been hired to pb the United States Capitol Police, the committee that oversees the bureau announced connected Thursday.

After conducting a nationalist hunt successful the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the committee members said successful a connection that they were “confident successful Chief Manger’s acquisition and attack successful protecting the Congress — its members, employees, visitors and facilities.”

He volition statesman enactment connected Friday. Chief Manger takes implicit a constabulary unit that is inactive reeling fractional a twelvemonth aft the riot. The 2,000-member constabulary unit that protects Congress finds itself astatine perhaps its biggest crossroads successful its astir two-century existence. Its enactment unit is traumatized and overworked arsenic its ranks person been hollowed retired by a flood of departures. The bureau is facing imaginable furloughs, teetering connected the brink of moving retired of backing arsenic overtime costs outpace its fund for salaries. It has been besieged by disapproval from members of some parties for the stunning information failures that allowed the battle to occur.

After the attack, Steven A. Sund resigned from his station arsenic the Capitol Police chief, on with the apical House and Senate information officials, a determination that near earthy feelings connected the unit among those who remained profoundly loyal to Mr. Sund.

The national representing officers voted that it had nary assurance successful the acting Capitol Police chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, and six different elder officials successful the department.

“The challenges successful protecting the Capitol campus, and everyone who works oregon visits there, person ne'er been much complex,” Chief Manger said successful a statement.

“The courageousness and dedication of the men and women of this bureau were connected large show connected Jan. 6th. It is present my occupation to guarantee that they person the resources and enactment to proceed to fulfill their ngo successful an ever progressively hard job.”

Chief Manger has spent much than 4 decades successful policing, including serving arsenic main of constabulary successful Montgomery County, Md., from 2004 to 2019. He besides served arsenic constabulary main successful Fairfax County, Va., from 1998 to 2004.

From 2014 to 2018, Chief Manger was president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and from 2013 to 2017, helium was vice president of the Police Executive Research Forum.