Jessica Taylor to take over as chief of US Park Police next month, NPS says
The U.S. Park Police department will be led by a new chief, Jessica Taylor, starting in May, the National Park Service says.
Taylor will oversee 560 employees in the District, New York City and San Francisco, according to a news release from NPS.
“My commitment is to ‘people first, mission always’ as we protect people, protect parks, and above all operate with transparency and integrity,” Taylor said in the release.
She’s an outside hire for the department; Taylor manages 200 employees as the director of the Criminal Investigation Division at the Environmental Protection Agency.
That job entails enforcing federal rules such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Before working at the EPA, Taylor worked as a Secret Service agent for 11 years. She also worked as a special agent with the Department of Agriculture.
“Early in my law enforcement career as a Secret Service agent, I often worked side by side with U.S. Park Police officers,” Taylor said. “Most of us carry those first years in policing long into our career, and I remain energized by the organization’s mission.”
A Park Police commander who was endorsed by the Park Police union was passed up for the job, according to The Washington Post.
Kenneth Spencer, the chairman of the union, reportedly told the Post that he knew nothing about Taylor and hadn’t heard from her.
WTOP has reached out to the union for comment but didn’t hear back ahead of publishing.
Taylor is taking over the position from former chief Pamela Smith, a longtime Park Police officer who stepped down to take a job as D.C. police’s first chief equity officer last May.
The new chief takes over as the department faces continued criticism from what some have said is a lack of transparency, including its decision not to name the officers involved in the shooting and killing of a 17-year-old who allegedly dragged an officer with a stolen car earlier this year.