“The four-kilometer-long fences that now surround the Capitol will do nothing to prevent another attack, or to help us understand the underlying failures that caused the riot to happen,” Honoré said. wrote a Washington Post headline criticizing the response of federal law enforcement. before and during the assault on the American Capitol complex.
The razor wire and the 7-foot fence that was installed after the pro-Trump crowd attacked the Capitol became a point of contention between Capitol police and lawmakers. Congressmen on both sides of the aisle became increasingly frustrated and quickly pushed back on the Capitol police’s proposal at the end of January to build permanent fences.
Honoré said in his piece that the Capitol fence “offers a false sense of security” and compares it to the southern boundary wall, which he describes as an “expensive failure”.
“The full explanation of law enforcement was to be avoided,” he wrote. “We are slow to accept the reality that a danger to our democracy also lies within our borders. We were not prepared to invest in the staff and resources to address the dangers.”
He argued that instead of the fence needing Capitol Hill, “more staff, more intelligence gathering capacity, better coordination with other federal law enforcement agencies, stronger internal lines of authority and a clearer focus on threats to public property and public officials.”
Honoré also proposed replacing the fence with retractable barriers and an updated video surveillance system.
“The Capitol’s security equipment is long gone for a facelift,” he added.
Honoré’s task force released its final report on Monday, urging comprehensive changes to improve the U.S. Capitol Police’s emergency response and to improve several security improvements around the Capitol complex – the first formal attempt to address the security failures .
The report also includes recommendations to increase Capitol police intelligence gathering capabilities, add a permanent rapid response force and implement mobile fencing that could replace the current temporary security structure, according to a copy obtained by CNN.
Democratic assistants told CNN that many of the report’s recommendations are likely to be incorporated into a Home Affairs Committee supplementary funding bill.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.
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