HILL STAFF VIEWS: Lots of Lukewarm Aides on Hill Campus Safety

(QUICK READ) — There are 580 acres of land on which the U.S. Capitol campus sits and there are 2,300 U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers and staff responsible for keeping everybody working and visiting in and around the majestic Capitol-domed  environs safe.

Having 2,300 officers and staffers to cover 580 acres means the Capitol campus has four USCP personnel for every four acres. In other words, the Capitol campus is well-protected, but if that’s the case why are 57 percent of congressional aides surveyed by CNCT Capitol Pulse only “somewhat confident”?

That 57 percent figure must be viewed in the context of the overall survey results because another one in four of the respondents said they are “very” confident about the safety measure taken for the Capitol campus.

The negative votes were only 12 percent saying the Capitol Hill safety measures are “not very” inspiring of confidence and a mere five percent describe themselves as “not at all” confident about their security while on the campus.

More specifically, GOP aides were measurably more confident at 30 percent feeling  very secure, compared with only 20 percent of Democratic Hill aides responding to the survey. Perhaps curiously, significant more Hill women working for Democrats feel “somewhat confident,’ at 76 percent versus 47 percent for Republican women working on the Hill.

“Most staffers feel relatively safe, but those who are not confident tend to be Republicans,” is how the Capitol Pulse folks summarized the results of this recent survey of opinion among congressional saff.

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