Patrol Branch
In the Washington metropolitan area, the U.S. Park Police is divided into three Districts: Central, East, and West.
Central District (D-1) personnel, headquarters at Haines Point, patrol in downtown Washington and the National Mall, including the Jefferson, Lincoln, and Vietnam Memorials, and other National Park Service units such as Ford's Theater, Peterson House, Lafayette, Franklin, Stanton, Lincoln, East and West Potomac Parks, and Dupont Circle. East of the Capitol, officers patrol the Anacostia Marina, Buzzard Point, and Stanton and Lincoln Parks. Most frequently called to assist with Presidential and dignitary protection details, D-1 is located nearest the White House and many foreign embassies.
The West District is comprised of two Stations: George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP) Station (D-2), located in Glen Echo, Maryland, and the Rock Creek Station in Rock Creek Park, Northwest Washington (D-3). Officers assigned at D-2 patrol both the Clara Barton and GWMP Parkways, as well as the Iwo Jima Memorial, Great Falls, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Fort Hunt, LBJ Grove, Turkey Run Park, the C&O Canal and Wolf Trap Farm Park.
The D-3 Station personnel patrol 1,800 acres of Rock Creek Park and adjacent parks such as Meridian Hill, Glover Archibold, Fort Totten (and other Civil War defenses), portions of the C&O Canal and the newly acquired Capitol Crescent Trail located along a portion of the Potomac River.
The East District is also comprised of two Stations: the Baltimore-Washington Station (B&W) located in Greenbelt Park (D-4), Maryland and the Anacostia Operations Facility (D-5) located in Anacostia Park, Southeast Washington. Personnel at D-4 patrol both the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and large tracts of Federal property adjacent to the Parkway, such as the Agricultural Research Center. This Station also responds (in accordance with reimbursable agreements), to the District of Columbia Children's Center and Oak Hill Youth Center, among others, all located in Maryland.
District-5 personnel patrol the Suitland Parkway and numerous parks and installations ranging from Oxon Hill Children's Farm and Ft. Washington in Prince George's County, to Marshall Hall in Charles County, Maryland. Patrol responsibilities also extend from Kennilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Northeast to Fort Dupont Park, Anacostia Park, and the Frederick Douglas Home in Southeast.
The Horse Mounted Unit, established in 1934, one of America's oldest police equestrian organizations in the United States, is indispensable to the Patrol Branch. Horse mounted patrols are assigned to Federal Parks in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco. These nationally acclaimed officers and mounts are highly respected for crowd management techniques. They also function to maintain order during major demonstrations and special events and have been transported to other sites in the National Park system to control demonstrations.
The mounted unit has provided training for the U.S. Army, the U.S. Secret Service, and police departments throughout the eastern United States and Canada such as Prince George's County Park Police, Montgomery County Park Police (Maryland), Nassau County Police (New York), Huntington City Police (West Virginia), Charleston City Police (South Carolina), Frederickberg, Port Smith, and Virginia Beach Police (Virginia), just to name a few.
Last updated - 03/03/06 03:28 PM, vej