Steven A. Sund is a retired American police officer who served as the tenth chief of the
United States Capitol Police
The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...
from 2019 to 2021. Sund was chief during the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, after which he resigned.
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...
, and an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...
in
homeland security
Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...
from the
Naval Postgraduate School
The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California.
It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...
.
D.C. Metropolitan police
Sund was a member of the
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columb ...
for more than 25 years before retiring in 2015. He was “widely respected in the District and among leaders of U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police” and other law enforcement agencies.
During his career, Sund coordinated a number of
National Special Security Event
A National Special Security Event (NSSE) is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events hav ...
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...
,
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...
,
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, and
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
. Sund was part of operations responding to the 2009
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting
At approximately 12:50 p.m. on June 10, 2009, 88-year-old James Wenneker von Brunn entered the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. with a slide-action rifle and fatally shot Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Ty ...
, the 2012 shooting at the
Family Research Council
The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...
, and the 2013
Washington Navy Yard shooting
The Washington Navy Yard shooting occurred on September 16, 2013, when 34-year-old Aaron Alexis fatally shot 12 people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) inside the Washingto ...
. In addition, as Commander of the Special Operations Division he handled dozens of criminal barricades with a record of zero fatalities.
Sund authored many of the special events manuals for the District of Columbia and helped shape the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-te ...
's
National Response Framework
The United States National Response Framework (NRF) is part of the National Strategy for Homeland Security that presents the guiding principles enabling all levels of domestic response partners to prepare for and provide a unified national respons ...
. He also has instructed the U.S. Secret Service in major events planning and has taught
Incident Command System
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective.
ICS was initially devel ...
as an adjunct professor at the
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presi ...
.
Sund retired from the Metropolitan Police Department as Commander of the Special Operations Division. Thereafter he worked for Noblis as the Director of Business Development for National Security and Intelligence.
Capitol Police
In 2017, Sund joined the United States Capitol Police as the Assistant Chief of Police and Chief of Operations. In June 2019, Sund was sworn in as the tenth Chief of the United States Capitol Police.
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
and the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
, marking the first time since 1814 that the Capitol building had been breached.
Capitol Police received major backlash after video emerged of what looked like some officers allowing rioters into the Capitol, and another officer filmed taking a
selfie
A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as Fac ...
with rioters.
Sund said in February 2021 that on January 3, he contacted House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael C. Stenger to request support from the
U.S. National Guard
The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.
Resignation
In the early morning hours of January 7, Sund issued a statement defending the department's response. That afternoon, during a televised press conference, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
called for Sund's resignation, citing "a failure of leadership at the top" of the department and added that Sund had not contacted her since the event. (An aide to Pelosi later clarified that Pelosi and Sund had spoken on the evening of January 6, but not after that time).
That afternoon, Sund submitted a letter of resignation stating his intention to remain in the post until January 16. The following day, January 8, Sund's command ended; Yogananda Pittman was sworn in as acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief, the first female and first African American to hold the post.
Aftermath
On February 1, 2021, Sund sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi detailing the events leading up to and including January 6. Sund provided a timeline for the aid he sought from local law enforcement agencies and National Guard units, and an accounting of the meetings he had after the perimeter had been breached while he sought assistance. Toward the end of the letter, Sund acknowledged a breakdown in some systems, which he argued could nonetheless be rectified through provision of resources, training, updates to policy, and accountability. He did not specify which systems failed but pointed to the lack of intelligence, noting officials did not predict an armed assault on the Capitol.
On February 23, Sund testified before Senate committees about the storming.
Sund later stated he regretted his resignation.
On March 3, 2021, Major General
William J. Walker
William J. Walker is a retired United States Army major general and former Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the 38th House Sergeant at Arms and the first African-American to hold the office. He last served as the 2 ...
, the commanding officer of the
District of Columbia National Guard
The District of Columbia National Guard is the branch of the United States National Guard based in the District of Columbia. It comprises both the D.C. Army National Guard and the D.C. Air National Guard components.
The president of the Unite ...
testified in a U.S. Senate hearing. His testimony supported Sund's account of events. Walker testified that he spoke with Sund at 1:49 p.m. Walker said, "It was an urgent plea" from Sund, "and his voice was cracking, and he was serious, he needed help right then and there, every available Guardsman." Within minutes of the call, the Capitol was breached.
Sund maintained that the U.S. Capitol Police "did not fail". He said Capitol Police officers had acted bravely and that, "outnumbered and against tremendous odds", they had maintained the safety of members of Congress.
Sund has written a book, ''Courage Under Fire: Under Siege and Outnumbered 58 to 1 on January 6'' (), published in January 2023 by Blackstone Publishing. It became an “Amazon triple bestseller” in the first week of publication. In the book, Sund highlights failures by several intelligence agencies to heed various warnings of the Jan. 6 attack.