Pentagon Force Protection Agency

Pentagon Force Protection Agency
Pentagon Force Protection Agency
	"Protecting Those Who Protect Our Nation"
Abbreviation	PFPA
Motto	Semper Vigilans; Always Vigilant
Agency overview
Formed	May 3, 2002
Preceding agency	Defense Protective Service;
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency; (Operations jurisdiction)	United States
Operations jurisdiction	United States
Legal jurisdiction	The Pentagon and National Capital Region
General nature	Federal law enforcement;
Operational structure
Headquarters	The Pentagon
Agency executives	Chris Bargery, USAF Col (Ret), (Acting) Director; Woodrow Kusse, Chief of Pentagon Police;
Parent agency	Department of Defense
Child agency	Pentagon Police;
Website
	www.pfpa.mil

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) is a federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) charged with protecting and safeguarding the occupants, visitors, and infrastructure of The Pentagon, the Mark Center Building, the Defense Health Agency headquarters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and other assigned DoD-occupied leased facilities within the National Capitol Region. As of 2004^[update], the Pentagon Force Protection Agency employed 482 police officers.^[2]

This mission is accomplished with law enforcement officers (Pentagon Police), criminal investigative and protective services agents; threat management agents; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives technicians; and anti-terrorism/force protection and physical security personnel.

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency provides a comprehensive protective intelligence analysis capability, which includes threat analysis, threat investigation, and criminal intelligence services to protect Pentagon facilities, employees and senior DoD personnel. The Pentagon Force Protection Agency liaises with other federal law enforcement and intelligence communities and conducts threat assessments and investigations for protective details while they are in the National Capital Region.

Personnel

Director

The Director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency is a Senior Executive Service position within the Office of the Director of Administration and Management.

In late 2022, Chris Bargery became acting Director after Daniel P. Walsh left the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.^[3]

Bargery is responsible for providing a full range of services to protect people, facilities, infrastructure and other resources at the Pentagon Reservation and in DoD-occupied facilities in the National Capital Region. Within this scope, he exercises the authorities of the Secretary of Defense under 10 U.S.C 2674 with respect to force protection, security, and law enforcement. He is the DoD principal liaison with State and local authorities, and communicates directly with DoD Components and other Executive Departments and Agencies in carrying out these assigned responsibilities and functions.^{[citation needed]}

The first Director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency was John N. Jester Jr., who previously served as the Pentagon police chief.^[4]^[5]

PFPA Divisions

Pentagon Police

The Pentagon Police Division (PPD) is the principal law enforcement arm of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA). PPD's role is to provide law enforcement and protective security services for The Pentagon and other Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) activities in the National Capital Region. These services include patrol, response, and investigation of criminal activity as well as protection of designated Defense officials.

Fallen Officers

Since the establishment of the Pentagon Police, two officers have died in the line of duty.


Officer	Date of death	Details
Police Officer James Melvin Feltis III	Monday, February 14, 2005	Vehicular assault^[6]
Senior Police Officer George Gonzalez	Tuesday, August 3, 2021	Stabbing^[7]

References

^ Pentagon Force Protection Agency - Home Page Archived 2005-02-07 at the Wayback Machine. Pfpa.mil. Retrieved on 2013-07-21.
^ Brian A. Reaves (July 2006). "Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2004" (PDF). Bureau of Justice Statistics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2019-01-28. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Chris Bargery". Pentagon Force Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
^ Vogel, Steve (May 9, 2002). "Pentagon Security Checkup". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
^ Hsu, Spencer S. (April 6, 2005). "Errors Cited in Anthrax Scare". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
^ Markon, Jerry (20 September 2006). "Pentagon Police Killer Sentenced To Prison". The Washington Post. ProQuest 410070143. Retrieved 19 March 2023. In January 2005, LaRode, who was leading Alexandria police on a six-mile-long chase in a stolen Cadillac, hit Feltis, 41, outside a Pentagon traffic booth.
^ Constantino, Annika Kim (4 August 2021). "Pentagon police officer killed in unprovoked knife attack, assailant shot himself". CNBC. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.