Capitol police in the United States are agencies charged with the provision of security police services for various state agencies, but especially State Legislatures. Capitol police may function as part of the state police or may be an independent agency. There is also a federal capitol police agency.
Security police for government facilities are actually a very old idea, dating back at least to the guards posted at Solomon's temple and including such units as the Praetorian Guard and the Coldstream Guards.
Read more about Capitol Police: State Capitol Police Agencies, United States Capitol Police
Famous quotes containing the words capitol and/or police:
“A woman with her two children was captured on the steps of the capitol building, whither she had fled for protection, and this, too, while the stars and stripes floated over it.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)