National icons vulnerable, report finds

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Lax security has left U.S. icons, including the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty vulnerable, according to a government report released Monday.

The U.S. Interior Department's inspector general found that U.S. Park Police had an "overall lack of commitment to its icon security responsibilities."

In a memo accompanying the 40-page report, Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney wrote also that the Park Police management and operations "adversely affects" security at parks, that the agency has failed to manage its financial affairs and that the police force is suffering from low morale.

"We found that despite having increased security and law enforcement responsibilities since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, USPP's staffing levels are lower now than they were six years ago," the report said.

Among the report's findings: security at such national icons as the Statue of Liberty is woefully inadequate, and officers in some field offices lack proper firearms and weapons training, as in San Francisco.

The report also includes a photograph of what appears to be an officer at the Jefferson Memorial, near the U.S. Capitol, sleeping in a patrol car.