United States Park Police Officers

United States Park Police Officers

As one of the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agencies in the United States, the United States Park Police, originally named the Park Watchmen, were established in 1791 under George Washington. While they functioned similarly to local metropolitan police, they worked independently outside of the federal government until 1849 when they were redirected under the Department of the Interior. The role of directing the officers continued to shift, from the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, to the specially made Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, and then in 1933 they were lastly transferred to serve under National Park Service. Today they serve across the country, in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York and California. Along with regular law enforcement duties, they police several famous United States monuments as part of their job. Another one of their roles is to protect the President, and any visiting dignitaries thereof.

National Park Service - U.S. Department of the Interior

Unknown

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/United_States_Park_Police_Officers-old.jpg

Link: National Park Service

A black and white photograph of early United States Park Police officers standing in front of a building.

Source: United States Park Police. (2012, September 27). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:06, October 5, 2012, from http://bit.ly/WvuQhk

For Further Exploration Please Visit http://www.nps.gov/uspp/

National Park Service

National Park Service

Medium: Photograph.

English

Public Safety

Monuments, National Park Service, Park Watchmen, Police, US Park Police

Historic