US Capitol Police seeks funds for 212 additional officers following Jan 6 riot

The Capitol Police force wants to hire and train additional 212 officers to boost security in the aftermath of a January takeover of the Capitol building by violent protesters, acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told Congress on Wednesday.

"The events of January 6 demonstrate that the department must build its capabilities to adapt quickly," Pittman told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding police. "This will require a significant investment in staffing, training, tools and information gathering resources needed to meet the dynamic and ever-changing security challenges, including the rising threat of domestic terrorism."

The Capitol police's budget request for fiscal 2022 includes money for 212 new sworn officers as well as 47 new civilian positions for related responsibilities such as intelligence collection and technology capabilities including cybersecurity, Pittman said.

"The new officers sought in the fiscal 2022 budget request would be in addition to 229 positions previously authorised by Congress that remain unfilled, in part due to pandemic limits on federal police training facilities in the states of Georgia and Maryland. The current force consists of 1,843 officers compared with 2072 open positions," Pittman said.

The Capitol Police is planning a massive recruitment effort to close the gap and further expand the force, Pittman added. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )