Capitol Police Inspector General Calls Department Communication 'Flawed' on January 6

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the United States Capitol Police (USCP) released an official report Thursday stating that different divisions within the department lacked proper communication during its response to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Inspector General Michael A. Bolton's review praised the USCP's Hazardous Incident Response Division (HIRD) for "rendering safe multiple hazardous devices" found during the Capitol riot, but his report also claimed "coordination concerning events between HIRD and the Department's operational leadership was flawed, which resulted in misinformation among officers."

The OIG functions as a watchdog for the USCP, and it previously described widespread deficiencies in the department's Command and Coordination Bureau (CCB) in a report released on August 24.

"The Department did not have adequately detailed and up-to-date Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place for CCB or formally establish procedures defining roles and responsibilities for the Emergency Planning Section," the earlier report stated.

Both reports included recommendations the OIG had for the department. Regarding the CCB, the office listed 12 recommendations, while it gave 15 relating to the department's HIRD. The new review specifically addressed issues with the USCP's K-9 Unit in addition to the HIRD.

The Capitol police responded to the OIG reports in separate press releases. In a statement regarding the CCB, the department cited the sheer amount of responses it was receiving during the riot as an issue.

"The USCP has acknowledged there were communication gaps on January 6. Given the events of January 6th, the enormous amount of radio traffic that day was not surprising," the department said on August 24. "Additionally, the size and magnitude of January 6 made it difficult to respond to each officer's emergency radio broadcast in real-time."

On Thursday, the USCP responded to Wednesday's report with a statement that began with expressing gratitude toward the OIG for recognizing the department's accomplishments during its operations on January 6. The release specifically mentioned law enforcement officials successfully finding and disarming pipe bombs outside the offices of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee.

Nevertheless, the USCP acknowledged the OIG's critique and said it needed more resources in order to accomplish the goals the inspector general requested.

"The Department agrees with the Inspector General that additional equipment and personnel are needed to enhance this mission critical program," the USCP press release said.

The intended objective of the OIG's reports to is provide a thorough review of the police response to the events related to the riot in and around the U.S. Capitol.