United States Park Police
| United States Park Police | |
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| Common name | U.S. Park Police |
| Abbreviation | USPP |
Patch of the United States Park Police
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Flag of the U.S. Department of the Interior
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Badge of the United States Park Police
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Flag of the U.S. National Park Service
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| Motto | Integrity, Honor, Service |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1919 |
| Preceding agency | Park Watchmen (1791) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
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Federal agency (Operations jurisdiction) |
United States |
| Legal jurisdiction | National Park Service areas, primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York City areas and certain other government lands. |
| General nature | |
| Specialist jurisdiction | Environment, parks, and-or heritage property. |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Agency executive | Robert MacLean, Chief |
| Parent agency | National Park Service |
| Website | |
| http://www.nps.gov/uspp/ | |
The United States Park Police (USPP) is one of the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. It functions as a full-service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York City areas and certain other government lands. The United States Park Police is one of the few full-service police departments in the federal government that possess both state and federal authority. In addition to performing the normal crime prevention, investigation, and apprehension functions of an urban police force, the Park Police are responsible for policing many of the famous monuments in the United States. The USPP shares law enforcement jurisdiction in all lands administered by the National Park Service with a force of National Park Service Rangers tasked with the same law enforcement powers and responsibilities. The agency also provides protection for the President, Secretary of the Interior, and visiting dignitaries. The Park Police is a unit of the National Park Service, which is a bureau of the Department of the Interior.
The Park Watchmen were first recruited in 1791 by George Washington to protect federal property only in the District of Columbia. The Watchmen were given the same powers and duties as the Metropolitan Police of Washington in 1882, and their name was officially changed to the present United States Park Police in 1919. Their authority first began to expand outside D.C. in 1929, and today they are primarily responsible for the Gateway National Recreation Area units within New York City and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, as well as the many designated areas in the Washington area, which includes neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia. These sites include the National Mall, the C&O Canal towpath in the region, and the parallel roadways of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia and Clara Barton Parkway in Maryland.
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Wikipedia