The fiasco at the U.S. Capitol last week obviously failed miserably and there are calls from Democratic members of Congress for heads to roll. Those cries were made after the Capitol Police Chief and the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate had also both announced their resignations.
In a television interview Chief Michael Sun told the reporter that he made a formal request for National Guard assistance days before the event. He says that the Sergeant at Arms of both houses nixed the requests citing the optics of having a guard presence. That provides one of many failures with enough blame to go around.
Where was the United States Park Police who would have had a significant presence at the original rally where President Trump and being on blocks away? Where was D.C. Metro Police who had responsibilities for the streets leading to the Capitol?
Where was the tactical gear for the front line officers which caused a significant number to suffer injuries and a helmet which likely would have saved the officer who lost his like when struck with a fire extinguisher in the head? This would include beanbag shotguns, rubber bullets, super soaker chemical irritant and Tasers which serve as non-lethal options to re-gain control.
Why was Capitol Police not working under what is known as Phase One Riot which cancels police off-days and changes to twelve hour shifts to shore up the regular compliment of officers. That simple action would have had three thousand officers for a show of force
Washington, D.C. has more law enforcement agencies than any City in the country
And finally, why was the protest at the Supreme Court over the Kavanaugh appointment so much less violent with no breach into the chamber. Granted it was a much smaller crowd, but there was minimal damage and no entry was gained by the protestors.
Maybe the organizational chart needs to be changed making the Capitol Police autonomous unit reporting to the Director of Homeland Security