Democrats Become the “Defund the Park Police” Party

Though Democrats have desperately tried to distance themselves from their previous embrace of the “Defund the Police” movement, they just can’t seem to fully mask their hostility toward law enforcement. In the most recent example of this antipathy breaking through, a group of Senate Democrats has demanded that the Trump administration halt its efforts to hire more park police.

Earlier this year, the National Park Service (NPS) announced plans to hire “500 highly qualified, experienced law enforcement officers,” including 300 officers for D.C., San Francisco, and New York, where it has offices. NPS has been significantly understaffed in recent years, including in law enforcement positions. The agency is even offering a $70,000 signing bonus to attract potential recruits.

“We are looking for experienced officers who are ready to step into one of the most unique and rewarding law enforcement roles in the federal government,” an NPS official said. “These officers will help protect irreplaceable resources, support our park communities, and ensure millions of visitors can enjoy their national parks safely.”

To most Americans, this seems like a reasonable endeavor – after all, taxpayers deserve to feel safe when they visit the parks and monuments that they pay for. And NPS has a responsibility to protect the country’s history and national treasures.

But to a group of Senate Democrats led by Oregon’s Jeff Merkley, hiring more park police is an unacceptable outrage. In a letter earlier this month, Merkley, along with Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) commanded NPS to stop hiring more park police officers.

In his letter, Merkley accused Trump of “weaponizing” the park police to “further its authoritarianism.”

“The administration is on a deliberate hiring spree to exploit the U.S. Park Police’s jurisdiction and turn it into a tool of the President for him and his ideological extremists to impose their will on the streets of D.C.,” the letter reads, as reported by The Washington Post.

The letter also criticized Trump for supposedly “transforming” the park police “into a federal police force to be deployed across the city [Washington, D.C.] rather than following its mission of safeguarding national monuments, icons, and visitors.”

“There is no evidence,” the senators claimed, “of an uptick in crime on park service land or increased threats to national monuments.” (Apparently these Democrats have forgotten the fact that left-wing activists vandalized and tore down scores of monuments in D.C. just a few years ago during the Summer 2020 riots.) They also said the “haste” in hiring and testing recruits “are clear signs that the administration is hijacking this federal police force for its own authoritarian purposes.”

But as the Post also reports: “The hiring blitz is a necessary boost following decades of concerns about understaffing, Kenneth Spencer, chief of staff for government affairs at the U.S. Park Police Fraternal Order of Police and former union chairman, said in October. He said the force was overlooked by previous administrations, Republican and Democratic alike.”

Moreover, the Democrat letter ignores very real concerns about crime where the new officers would be stationed, including the capital. In 2024, Washington, D.C. had the “fourth-highest homicide rate in the country,” according to the White House. “There were 29,348 crimes reported in Washington, D.C. last year, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies, and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts,” the White House also reported.

Many parks and monuments in the capital have also been overrun with homeless encampments in recent years, posing a safety risk to both homeless individuals and tourists – a fact anyone who has been to the nation’s capital can attest to.

Critics say President Trump is unjustly using the park police to patrol the city and act as a de facto replacement for the D.C. Police Department (DCPD). But even with the new officers, NPS would still have less than one quarter the number of officers in the city as DCPD. This relatively small number of officers would hardly be able to project authority beyond the boundaries of NPS sites – where they already have federal jurisdiction.

In short, the idea that the Trump administration wants to turn NPS employees into shock troops for an imagined authoritarian takeover of the capital is laughably absurd.

Senators live a privileged life inside their D.C. bubble. They spend most of their days in climate-controlled buildings guarded by police. They may be chauffeured around town and have their own security detail as well.

But for Americans who should be able to safely visit the monuments they paid for, the crime in D.C. is a constant threat. When Trump and the National Park Service hire more officers, they are not doing so for their own benefit. Instead, they are ensuring that Americans can come to our nation’s capital and learn about its history. That is not authoritarianism – that is an essential part of a free and functioning republic.

Matt Lamb is an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.