Rioting at US Capitol exposed ‘epic failures of security,’ ex-NYPD lieutenant says
More technology is needed to assist personnel on the ground, former NYPD Lieutenant Darrin Porcher says
“Epic failures of security" exposed Capitol Hill, former New York Police Department Lieutenant Darrin Porcher said Thursday, in reaction to protesters breaching the halls of Congress while electoral votes were being counted.
Porcher explained on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria” how Capitol Hill security will change after the rioting erupted Wednesday.
“It is going to bifurcate into two different components. Granted, you’ll have a probably more robust personnel component, but, in addition to that, you’re going to invoke a series of technological innovations that can assess what is going on outside of the Capitol,” Porcher said.
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Porcher went on to say although cameras surveil the Capitol building, "it begs the question of us needing more technology to assist the personnel that was on the ground."
"I don’t think that the two entities were working in unison, and, as a result, we saw the epic failures of security,” he said.
The violence erupted as lawmakers were in the process of certifying the Electoral College votes won by President-elect Joe Biden. They were told to put on gas masks and barricade inside as law enforcement officers tried to restore order amid the chaos.
Protesters reportedly smashed glass doors and authorities drew their weapons to protect the building. The certification was stopped after Congress recessed as the chaos escalated outside and inside the Capitol building.
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Porcher stressed that “there should have been an intelligence-based assessment that would have been conducted by the Capitol Hill police.”
“That intelligence-based assessment would have determined who was showing up, how many people were showing up, and what was the ideology. Based on that intelligence-based assessment, then you can put in place a parameter for how many officers you’ll have and focused on in that Capitol complex and what exits you’ll have covered,” Porcher said.
Porcher continued, “That apparently didn’t happen because the intelligence did not support the number of the personnel from the Capitol police that they had positioned in that particular compound. Coupled with once things started to go arise so to speak, the contingency plan wasn’t able to support the number of people that were there.”
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Porcher said that when he was a sergeant in the New York Police department force, a force of 200 officers successfully contained a riot involving “20,000” people because they "had a forward plan." The police were still able to “sustain the safety of patrons” and civilians from the riot which he said occurred in Madison Square Garden.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace, Louis Casiano contributed to this report.