OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES PARK POLICE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE

EAGLE TIMES

BULLETIN
July 29, 2014

WWW.USPPFOP.ORG

U. S. Park Police Not Prepared For Grave

Terrorist Threat From Returning ISIS Fighters

The 9/11 Commission reconvened for

the 10th anniversary of their landmark
report, and assessed the current terrorist
threat against the United States. They are
concerned that America has grown fatigued
after 13 years of struggle against terrorism
and fear that a dangerous complacency
has crept in that will divert attention and
needed resources from counter-terrorism efforts. The evidence led them to conclude
that the terrorist threat has transformed, but
remains very dangerous. In their published report, they concluded, in part, The
9/11 Commission Report explained that the
American people were shocked, but should
not have been surprised, by the attacks.
In the years leading up to 9/11, al Qaeda
had already attacked us a number of times.
Unfortunately, except for counterterrorism
specialists in the government, most Americans did not see the connections among
these events. The government did not effectively explain to the public the evil that was
stalking us.
We fear that this is happening again.
On issue after issue the resurgence and

(Above) U. S. Park Police officers stand watch over

the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial. A U.S.
Park Police officer stated that currently the USPP is
running on fumes.

transformation of al Qaeda, Syria, the

cyber threatpublic awareness lags behind
official Washingtons. If this gap persists,
the political support for needed national security capabilities will fade. In todays very
dangerous world, that is something we can
ill afford.
One former senior national security
leader told us recently that he expects that
his children and grandchildren will be carrying on this fight. Young Americans need
to know that terrorism is not going away.
(Bold,Underline added)
Todays Rising Terrorist Threat and the
Danger to the United States: Reflections on
the Tenth Anniversary of The 9/11 Commission Report -Read the Commissions
Report
The Commission is concerned that ISIS
fighters in Syria and Iraq have gained control of a vast area, and have become wealthy
and better armed. They now have ample resources to recruit and train terrorists. The
Commission estimates that there are about
1000 ISIS fighters with European passports, which will permit the holders to travel to the United States without a visa, and
about 100 ISIS fighters who possess United
States passports. According to the Commission, Foreign fighters returning from Syria
(and now Iraq) pose a grave threat to the
U. S. homeland and Western Europe.
(Bold,Underline added)
For the foreseeable future the United
States faces a grave terrorist threat and the
U. S. Park Police (USPP) doesnt have the
staffing or equipment to effectively deter or
respond to incidents related to that grave
threat. To protect visitors to the National
Mall, the Statue of Liberty and the Golden
Gate Recreation Area the USPP will need the
National Park Service (NPS) to devote more
resources to the USPP and visitor
protection.
Right
now
the

USPP has 600 officers spread across the

nation. In Washington, DC the USPP have
about 465 officers. By comparison, the
U. S. Capitol Police have about 1600 officers in Washington, DC.
The needed enhancements experienced
by most federal law enforcement agencies
after 9/11, just didnt happen to the USPP.
The most recent independent staffing study
of the USPP was conducted in 1999 by the
consulting firm of Booz-Allen and they determined that the USPP needed 820 officers.
Therefore, the USPP is currently about
220 officers short of what was needed 2
years before 9/11. The NPS has ignored the
Booz-Allen study for over a decade.
The NPS needs to take immediate action to protect the visitors and resources
patrolled by the USPP. The USPP must
have full staffing for enforcement operations and a robust response force capability, replacements for the aging helicopter
fleet, sufficient resources to purchase basic
equipment, and a massive upgrade of security systems and procedures on the National
Mall in order to attain the level of operational readiness required to safely meet the
grave threat facing the United States. The
USPP has serious deficiencies that must be
corrected because, the question of the next
attack isnt if, but when, and the NPS must
change for the USPP to be ready.

Foreign fighters
returning from Syria
(and now Iraq) pose
a grave threat to the
U.S. homeland and
Western Europe.
- 9/11 Commission 10th Anniversary Report (Page 7)