Chambers to return as Park Police Chief on Jan. 31

Teresa Chambers will be reinstated as head of the U.S. Park Police after she was terminated more than seven years ago.

By Jolie Lee
Federal News Radio

Teresa Chambers will return as Park Police Chief on Jan. 31, more than seven years after the Interior Department terminated her from that position.

Chambers was fired in 2004 after speaking to media outlets about budget shortfalls and her understaffed department, saying she had been forced to cut back on patrols.

A Jan. 11 ruling from the Merit Systems Protection Board found Chambers was wrongly dismissed and ordered her reinstatement.

Interior had the right to file an appeal but chose not to fight Chambers’ reinstatement.

In an interview with Federal News Radio the day after the ruling, Chambers said, “There was no amount of time that I could put on getting my good name back and standing up for what is right.”

The current Park Chief Sal Lauro has agreed to serve as a senior adviser, according to an Interior release. Lauro has been chief for two years.

The Park Police is in charge of protecting the nation’s monuments.

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