'Every One Of The Breaches Were Human Error': Celeste Maloy Demands Better Capitol Security

2 days ago

During a House Appropriation Committee Hearing On Capitol Complex Safety on Tuesday, Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) asked the outgoing U.S. Capitol Police Manager on how to limit the security breaches that occur in the Capitol building.

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00:00to take pride in that, and take that pride in their workmanship and translate that into

00:08making sure they're doing the best job that they can do.

00:11And so it really comes down to making sure these cops know how much they're appreciated.

00:15You got it.

00:16Thank you, Chief.

00:17And I thank each of those that work under your direction, you've done a phenomenal job.

00:21Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

00:24Representative Malloy.

00:26Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:29Chief Major, thanks for being here.

00:30Thank you for your 40 plus years of public service.

00:34Everybody said it, but congratulations on your retirement.

00:38I really appreciate what you and your officers do here.

00:42And I love that we welcome the public into our buildings.

00:46And I know that you all have a responsibility to keep me, my colleagues, and our staff safe.

00:52So I recognize that you're balancing a lot of factors.

00:55I think you do a really great job of it.

00:58But as you pointed out, every one of the breaches was human error.

01:02And I recognize that officers are human.

01:05We're all human.

01:08And I'm guessing that humans who enjoy their work environment and feel appreciated are

01:15probably more conscientious at what they do.

01:19And we all want to see your officers be conscientious and successful at what they do.

01:24So I've been sitting here listening to all the questions.

01:26Sorry, I've got a little bit of a cough.

01:31And I'm concerned that there might be a temptation on the part of leadership in the Capitol Police

01:36to make changes to satisfy us that might hurt morale in the force.

01:41And so I just, at the end here with a few minutes left, I want to give you a chance

01:45to talk about that.

01:47Sorry.

01:48But let me set the stage for you just a little bit.

01:52The technological improvements you talked about sound great.

01:55Every breach was human error.

01:57The increased training sounds good, too.

01:59But as I was listening, things like increasing the rotations and changing the setup at these

02:05checkpoints might make officers feel like they're being policed and treated like children.

02:12And we see the same officers a lot.

02:15We build up a good rapport with them.

02:16There are 438 of us and a lot of staff.

02:19And when people are at the same places a lot, they see us a lot and they recognize people.

02:23Can you just speak to how these changes and how personnel are handled might impact morale

02:31on the force?

02:32So it is not lost on me that we had these three breaches, but that 99.999% of my officers

02:40were not involved in any of those.

02:42They made no mistakes.

02:43And so when everybody had to go through the training, believe me, I understood the fact

02:48that a lot of them said, what did I do wrong, because they did nothing wrong.

02:53So I think it's important for leadership to be consistent.

02:58This is not about – I will tell you that, again, been a cop a long time, and even good

03:06cops make mistakes sometimes.

03:08And when you make a mistake, it shouldn't start off with, oh, you're going to get

03:15disciplined or whatever.

03:17Of course, mistakes that people make – and it depends on the nature of the mistake and

03:21all that sort of thing.

03:22But all of these accountability measures that we're putting in, I want it to start with

03:29training, then if the people make mistakes, then counseling, just say, hey, you know,

03:34you did this, this.

03:35And then you would – you know, after that, you would get into, okay, well, do we need

03:39to look at some sort of discipline or whatever.

03:42But I think training and counseling are where the emphasis needs to be as we add additional

03:50accountability measures where officers might find themselves, oh, gee, I looked at my phone

03:56momentarily when I wasn't supposed to be looking at my phone, and okay, well, you understand

04:02why you don't do that.

04:03Don't do it.

04:04And so we're trying to be reasonable with these measures and not punitive with these

04:10measures.

04:12I appreciate that.

04:13It's also not lost on me what you just said, that when officers feel like they're appreciated,

04:21they do a better job.

04:22And if you could do anything, it would be to make sure they know that we appreciate

04:25them.

04:26So I just – I've got one minute left on the record.

04:28I just want to say how much I appreciate what you all do and the professionalism of the

04:31officers that I interact with every day.

04:34And I hope that you will convey that back to your team.

04:40And I hope whoever your predecessor is will work with us to make sure that we have a good

04:45working relationship because we all work here in the same place together every day.

04:48Yes, ma'am.

04:50I yield back, Mr. Chairman.

04:54And I second what Ms. Molloy's comments.

04:55Obviously, we here, members, all my colleagues.

'Every One Of The Breaches Were Human Error': Celeste Maloy Demands Better Capitol Security

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