Congressman John Conyers wanted me to share with you a letter that he has written to the Chief of the United States Park Police regarding the treatment of the 384 protestors arrested outside the White House yesterday, many of whom were held, handcuffed, for over 12 hours on a bus.

Jonathan Godfrey
Internet Communications Director


September 27, 2005

Office of the Chief
United States Park Police
Dwight E. Pettiford
1100 Ohio Drive S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20242

Dear Chief Pettiford:

I am writing to request information regarding the treatment of individuals arrested on September 26, 2005 in front of the White House and processed at the United States Park Police Anacostia Station.

Yesterday 384 protestors, including peace activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested outside the White House and were brought to United States Park Police Anacostia Station. I was very surprised to learn that many of those arrested were kept handcuffed in vans and buses for up to 12 hours before they were charged and released. Some of those were released at 4:30 in the morning after being arrested at 4:00 the previous afternoon. Many of those held captive the longest were grandmothers and senior citizens. Those released after midnight were unfamiliar with Washington, DC and had no means to travel back to their hotels once the metro had closed. Anacostia is not frequented by taxicabs after midnight.

I have the following questions regarding the treatment of those arrested yesterday:

1. Why was the Anacostia Station chosen as the sole location to process all 384 arrestees when there were several other Park Police stations in the greater Washington, DC area?

2. In what other circumstances have arrestees been detained by U.S. Park Police for periods exceeding twelve hours before being charged with a crime?

3. In what other circumstances have arrestees been detained by U.S. Park Police, and kept handcuffed on buses for periods exceeding ten hours?

4. What is the established U.S. Park Police procedure for processing large numbers of arrestees in the Washington, DC area?

Please respond to the Judiciary Committee Minority Office at 2142 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, telephone number 202-225-6504, fax number 202-225-4423.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
House Committee on the Judiciary

Yes, I can help out. When I worked there it was in the SOP. The Anacostia station was THE location for processing people as a result of mass arrests. Anacostia station was part of a military base on the Anacostia river that was turned over to the National Park Service at some point. The station building itself, also known as D-5, was a naval facility. It is pretty big. It has a gymnasium in it. There is a lot of room to bring people. Some of the specialized units work out of there as well, aviation, motors. It is easily accessible from the highway, 395. (I personally processed Dick Gregory after arresting him at a demonstration in a DC park. Nice guy!)

The USPP has 5 substations, D-1 through D-5. D-4 is in Maryland. D-2 is in Virginia. It is against the law and a violation of USPP regulations to take an arrestee across state /jurisdictional lines. Sometimes under unusual circumstances it would be approved. D-3 is in Rock Creek Park. It is already too small, not much room to park, isolated on a winding road. Not practical for mass arrests. D-1 is in Potomac Park, not far from the Jefferson Memorial. It is at the beginning of a peninsula and there is only one road to/from it in a heavily touristed area.

We had a time limit of 3 hours for processing someone. Pretty sure that was DC law though. This occurred on Federal property and they are probably being charged under 36 CFR. So it is all federal. I don't know why they kept them on the bus and took so long to process them. They were most likely processed -- i.e., pictures, prints, written a citation and then out the door. It doesn't sound as if they were sent to the Central Cell Block. They were probably given a court date of 1 to 3 months from now.

A couple years ago (may have been the WTO demos) they sent all of the arrestees property to Brentwood all the way on the other side of DC. So after being processed and released the people had to go all the way across the city to pick up their belongings.