CHP wants more security at California Capitol to protect lawmakers. Here’s why
The California Legislature’s temporary move to a state office building last month created a new security problem in downtown Sacramento: How to keep lawmakers and their staff safe as they walk back and forth between the Capitol and their offices on O Street.
California lawmakers will be making that trip frequently over the next four years during a remaking of the Capitol that’s intended to modernize the Legislature’s offices and committee hearing rooms. They’ll vote in the historic Capitol, but do most of their work in the O Street building.
The California Highway Patrol has a plan that will cost nearly $50 million over the next four years to beef-up security by increasing the number of officers around the Capitol and the new state government building, dubbed the “swing space.”
In the request for additional funding, CHP Capt. Doug Lyons wrote that adding the swing space building will require the CHP to “significantly expand its security footprint.”
He wrote the CHP is charged with protecting the state Capitol, as well as the executive and legislative processes, to ensure continuity of government.
“To do this, the CHP must ensure members and staff are protected at each location and allowed to travel freely between locations,” Lyons wrote in the budget request. “Possible incidences of civil unrest and the risk of safety to authors of legislative bills what may be considered controversial, result in a need for additional security.”
In early December, lawmakers and their staff moved from their Capitol annex offices to the new government building. It was the first step in a $1.2 billion plan to demolish the 69-year-old Capitol annex and replace it with a modernized statehouse, visitor’s center and parking garage.
Activist shoved California lawmaker in 2019
Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, said he’s already been screamed at by an “extremist” last week while walking between the two buildings.
In 2019, an anti-vaccine activist posted a video on Facebook of him shoving Pan while walking on a downtown sidewalk near the Capitol. Pan wrote laws limiting exemptions for required childhood vaccinations in 2015 and 2019.
More than two years after that encounter, the coronavirus pandemic has heightened the issue of vaccines and mandates. Pan says he’s concerned threats will worsen from those opposing vaccine bills; tactics that he says are aimed at silencing his colleagues who could be worried about enduring the same harassment.
This week, Pan said it’s unfortunate increasing security is needed to ensure lawmakers and their staffs can walk across a street freely without harassment from “extremists.” He said democracy must be protected, and legislators should make decisions on laws based on the best interest of the people; not extremists looking to incite violence and intimidate others.
“We can’t have elected officials threatened and attacked for basically doing their jobs; that’s not how we make good policy,” Pan said in a phone interview with The Bee.
California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said there are already additional safety measures in place to protect lawmakers and staff as they move between the two buildings.
“The safety of Senators and our staff is paramount in my responsibilities as the Pro Tem,” Atkins said in an email to The Bee. “While I can’t go into specifics, working in multiple buildings presents challenges, and there are additional security precautions in place to protect members and staff while they travel between locations.”
More CHP foot, bike patrols
The CHP proposal, which must be approved by the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom, would pull $48.4 million from its Motor Vehicle Account to enhance Capitol security. The requested additional funding will allow officers to work overtime and handle the increased security requirements.
Lawmakers and staff working in the swing space offices usually walk to the Capitol Building when needed there, which could place them in direct contact with the public “and may leave them vulnerable to possible attacks,” Lyons wrote in the budget proposal.
He said the CHP needs to increase its presence with more officers on foot-patrol and bicycle-patrol in the area between the Capitol. The amount of foot traffic in this area requires several officers on multiple shifts to adequately prevent any potential problems, according to Lyons.
The additional officers also will allow the CHP to provide security around the construction zone. The state Legislature chose a plan to bulldoze the annex, arguing that asbestos, mold and inadequate safety features like missing sprinklers and limited exits, justify the upgrade.
During the construction work at the Capitol, the CHP plans to assign two lieutenants to oversee eight additional sergeants, who will each supervise 10 officers on a typical shift. The CHP’s Capitol Protection Section command staff manages their own officers, but they are also the point of contact for four field programs, the SWAT team, Mounted Patrol Unit, Hazardous Devices Detail and Bicycle Patrol Unit.
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
