By MARTY NILAND, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Teresa C. Chambers, the top uniformed officer of the U.S. Park Police, was suspended Friday, days after she went public with complaints that her department was understaffed and underfunded.
Assistant Chief Ben Holmes was named as her replacement, according to a statement from the National Park Service, which oversees the Park Police. Spokesman Bill Line declined to elaborate, saying it was a personnel issue.
Chambers told various media outlets on Tuesday that she had been forced to cut back on patrols across the area because her officers are now required to guard national monuments.
The next day, Don Murphy, the U.S. Park Service’s deputy director, said Chambers broke a federal rule against public comment on budget discussions and another barring someone in Chambers’ position from lobbying.
U.S. Rep. James P. Moran, D-Va., a member of the House Budget Committee, said he suspected Chambers would be suspended after speaking with Murphy. Moran said it appears likely that Chambers will be fired.
“She was told to clear out her desk and to relinquish her badge, her government I.D. and her firearm,” Moran said. “She’s under investigation.”
Chambers said her department had a $12 million budget shortfall this year and needed $8 million for next fiscal year.
Moran said he doubted that her statements amounted to lobbying.
“She never lobbied me and I doubt that she lobbied anyone else. In terms of the budget numbers, I think she was asked specific questions and she answered honestly,” Moran said. “I think it sends the wrong message to other administrators who are trying to do their jobs.”
Park Police officer Jeff Caps, the head of the department’s Fraternal Order of Police chapter, said Chambers was popular among her officers and had dramatically raised morale in almost two years on the job.
“I’ve never worked with an officer that had the ability to pull together such a diverse and sometimes hostile group of officers,” he said. “I’ve never worked with anyone who has more integrity.”
Capps said he originally told reporters about the department’s staffing and budget problems, and that Chambers was answering questions generated by his initiative. He said he alerted the media because he believed the Park Service and Park Police were at an impasse over the issues.
Chambers was the first woman to be named chief of the U.S. Park Police, a unit of the Interior Department’s National Park Service. The Park Police patrol the grounds of the National Mall, parks in Washington, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York Harbor, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and Presidio, and some scenic parkways in Maryland and Virginia. Nearly 680 men and women work for the Park Police.
Vacancies on the force have left it 15 percent below its authorized strength.
Chambers took charge of the U.S. Park Police in February 2002, after serving as police chief in Durham, N.C. Before that, she spent 21 years as a police officer in Prince George’s County, Md.