Were Red Flags Ignored About Safety on the National Mall?

WASHINGTON -- After a rash of armed robberies on the National Mall, the former Park Police Chief is speaking out about the situation.

Teresa Chambers was fired two years ago from her job as Park Police Chief for raising red flags about low staffing levels at the nation's monuments.

Chambers says staffing was a problem when she was fired, and it continues to put visitors at risk.

Now, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is challenging her colleagues in Congress to fund additional U.S. Park Police officers -- saying there is no shortage of U.S. Capitol Police officers patrolling on the Hill.

Chambers says she supports Norton and her efforts to allocate additional funding to the Park Police.

"We're not going to fix this problem when it isn't taken as seriously as crime emergencies in other cities, including D.C.," she says.

While Park Police say they're moving officers from other locations to the Mall, Chambers calls transplanting officers another "Band-Aid approach."

"I've got to wonder from what parks? What neighborhood park in Washington, D.C., or Virginia, or Maryland did we decide that it was okay to leave vulnerable?" Chambers says.

Chambers recommends more of a "community policing" approach in addition to increased uniformed presence, surveillance and technology.

The Interior Department still isn't willing to let visitors know about the staffing shortages, Chambers says.

"[They need] a real interaction with visitors in the park to tell them honestly what's happening so that they can be our eyes and ears." Chambers says.

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