Common name DC Protective Services Formed 1973 | Abbreviation PSD Dissolved PSPD (2012) | |
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Motto Justitia Omnibus"Justice For All" Preceding agency District of Columbia Watchmen | ||
The District of Columbia Protective Services Division (formerly, the Protective Services Police Department) is a division of the Department of General Services of the District of Columbia Government, responsible for maintaining order and providing police and security services at and around the District of Columbia's Public Facilities and Grounds. PSD officers are sworn law enforcement personnel with full police authority delegated from the Mayor of the District of Columbia and have the authority to bear firearms, serve warrants and make full custodial arrests throughout the District of Columbia.
Contents
- History
- Areas of responsibility and primary jurisdiction
- Operational
- Organization
- Rank structure
- Fallen officers
- References
The Department of General Services official webpage calls PSD: "the police force responsible for law enforcement activities and physical security of all properties owned, leased or otherwise under the control of the Government of the District of Columbia."
History
The PSD traces its beginnings to an 1899 Act of Congress, the "Watchmen in Municipal Facilities Act", which mandates a police force separate from the Metropolitan Police Department be established in order to maintain law and order in municipal government facilities that at the time were controlled by the federal government. In 1973, the District of Columbia Government Protective Services Division was established to control the police force being transferred from the federal government to the Mayor of the District of Columbia under the Home Rule Act. Its existence is codified under ยง 10-1005 of the DC Code, which establishes the "...Protective Services Police Department, which shall coordinate and manage the security and law enforcement requirements for District government agencies and facilities."
In September 2009, Mayor Adrian Fenty signed an Executive Order that changed the name of the agency from the Protective Services Division (PSD) to the Protective Services Police Department (PSPD).
In 2012, Mayor Vincent Gray transferred PSPD from the Department of Real Estate Services to the new Department of General Services (DGS). The legislation ordering the transfer was attached to the FY 2012 Budget Support Act, and transmitted to the US Congress on August 11, 2012, for a 30-day review. Congress took no action, thus it became law on October 1, 2012, and with this act the Protective Services Police Department became the Protective Services Division of the Department of General Services.
Areas of responsibility and primary jurisdiction
Operational
PSD officers are deployed into MPDC Districts for patrol assignments and answer radio runs dispatched through the city's 911 system on the same radio dispatch zones as the DC Metropolitan Police Department and the DC Housing Authority Office of Public Safety. Additionally, PSD provides uniformed police support to other District agencies including the DC Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, DC Department of Health and the DC Department of Human Services as needed. In addition to uniformed police services, PSD is sometimes called upon to provide plainclothes personnel for Executive Protection Details for various DC Government Officials and VIP's visiting the District of Columbia.
PSD officers carry the same equipment as their MPDC counterparts, with the standard duty weapon being the GLOCK 17, 9mm handgun. Officials of the rank of Captain or higher may carry the GLOCK 19, 9mm handgun. Sworn members are covered under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA), that allows law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms off-duty, anywhere in the United States without regard to local and state laws.
Organization
- Operations Section - Uniformed police patrols throughout the city, 911 response and protection of critical infrastructure and government officials.
- Mission Support Section - Intelligence, training, special events, fleet management and quartermaster.
- Threat Management Section - Threat management, threat assessments on District Government Officials, electronic security systems, citywide credentialing, communications and IT support as well as coordinating and writing emergency response plans for District agencies including the Emergency Evacuation/Relocation Plan for the District Government.
In April 2013, Plez Jenkins, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was serving as Deputy Executive Director of the DC Criminal Justice Coordinating Council within the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, was appointed as the head of PSD. He resigned on July 21, 2014.
On July 29, 2014, Anthony Fortune, the former assistant director of the Federal Protective Service was named interim associate director of DGS for PSD.
Rank structure
PSD uses a rank structure that is similar to MPDC.
Fallen officers
Since 1973, one PSD/PSPD officer has died in the line of duty. Mack Wesley Cantrell died from gunshot wounds sustained during the Hanafi Siege of the District Building (now the John Wilson Building) on March 9, 1977.