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US Park Police investigate Beltsville shooting, officer injured attempting to respond

The officer has been transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

BELTSVILLE, Md. — The United States Park Police (USPP) are investigating a shooting on Powder Mill Road in the area of the United States Secret Service facility in Beltsville, Maryland.

One USPP officer was left injured in a car crash when attempting to respond to the incident. The officer has been transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of a shooting incident near an agency-run facility in Beltsville, Md.,” The Service specified in an emailed response. “The incident is under investigation by U.S. Park Police. As a matter of practice, the Secret Service does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

The shooting comes after a week of big news for the U.S. Park Police, who appointed their first Black Chief of Police, Pamela Smith.

Smith will become the first African American woman to lead the 230-year-old agency. Smith is a 23-year veteran of the USPP, a full-service police force with jurisdiction in all federal parks.

“Chief Smith’s commitment to policing as public service and her willingness to listen and collaborate make her the right person to lead the U.S. Park Police at this pivotal moment in our country,” Shawn Benge, deputy director exercising the delegated authority of the NPS director, said. 

Smith starts her new role on Feb. 28.

RELATED: National Park Service appoints first Black Chief of Police

The U.S. Park Service also announced Park Police will start wearing body cameras, an objective Smith stated she planned to accomplish within her first 90 days. The NPS said it plans to pilot the program in San Francisco and implement it across the country by the end of 2021.

“Body-worn cameras are good for the public and good for our officers, which is why I am prioritizing implementing a body-worn camera program within my first 90 days,” Smith said. “This is one of the many steps we must take to continue to build trust and credibility with the public we have been entrusted to serve.”

RELATED: U.S. Park Police will start wearing body cameras, National Park Service announces

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