PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Law enforcement experts are questioning how people got inside the U.S. Capitol so quickly — protesters were photographed sitting in Senate offices, and one man was in the chair where the vice president would sit. One retired Philadelphia law enforcement leader said the agency didn’t seem prepared for a day they knew was going to be tense.
Washington D.C. has 32 law enforcement agencies, and the U.S. Capitol has its own.
“I found them to be a very professional organization but I also found that they can be a bit territorial,” said former Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner and chief inspector of Homeland Security Joe Sullivan.
Sullivan, who is now retired, led the city through the 2016 DNC and worked with Capitol police to secure the event. He said there should have been parameters set up at all building access points, both inside and outside.
“It would appear in this situation that they did not accept any help from the D.C. police who had announced days ago that they were going to be all hands on deck,” Sullivan said.
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There are guidelines as to how the partnerships are expected to be organized and how they are to work together, Sullivan said, and in this case, it looks like the Capitol police didn’t call in other federal resources to assist.
“I think that’s something that will be a matter of discussion in the future when they go back and do a hot wash of this incident and find out how this occurred. You got protesters sitting in House chambers and Senate chambers and that’s just not acceptable,” Sullivan added.