Capitol Police chief says force plans ‘more well thought out’ after Jan. 6

As the one-year anniversary of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol attack approaches this week, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said the department’s planning is now “more well thought out.”

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Manger said improvements have been made after criticisms were raised during and after the Capitol insurrection about the response to the violent attacks, with the National Guard on standby as officials waited for a word on deployment

“Typically, when we are planning for different events, we know ahead of time before we’re going to need additional assistance, and that’s been one of the improvements that we’ve made since Jan. 6 is that we — our planning is … much more well thought out,” Manger said. 

“We have a blueprint that we can use to make sure we’re contacting resources ahead of time, getting them on board, getting them briefed on what we need them to do,” Manger added.

“So the fact that we have the authority to call out the National Guard, the fact that we have formal processes in place to get additional resources from area law enforcement agencies is a big improvement,” he added.

According to Manger, one critical issue the department is facing is a lack of officers due to academy classes being put on hold during the pandemic. Manger said the force is currently short about 400 officers.

Updated at 10:56 a.m.