Who was the Chief of the US Capitol Police in 2021?
Executive summary
Steven A. Sund was the sworn Chief of the United States Capitol Police entering 2021 and resigned in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 attack, after which Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittman served as acting chief until J. Thomas “Tom” Manger was appointed and assumed command in late July 2021 [1] [2] [3]. The year therefore saw three different leaders in the chief role: Sund (through January 2021), Pittman (acting, January–July 2021), and Manger (from July 2021 onward) [1] [2] [4].
1. The pre- and post-attack chief: Steven Sund’s tenure and resignation
Steven A. Sund had been sworn in as the tenth Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in June 2019 and was the department’s official chief during the January 6, 2021 breach of the Capitol; he announced his resignation in the immediate fallout of that event with an effective date in mid-January 2021 [1] [5]. Sund has since defended his actions and later testimony and reports have debated how blame was allocated for that day’s security failures, with some congressional reviews arguing he was assigned disproportionate blame amid broader interagency breakdowns [1] [6].
2. The interim leader: Yogananda Pittman as acting chief
Following Sund’s departure, Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittman was named acting chief on January 8, 2021, becoming the first woman and first African American to lead the agency in that capacity; she served as acting chief through July 23, 2021 while the Capitol Police Board conducted a national search for a permanent chief [2] [3]. Pittman’s six-month stewardship focused publicly on immediate security enhancements and beginning implementation of lessons from January 6, though some internal and external critics raised questions about pre-event intelligence and departmental preparations that remained under investigation [2].
3. The permanent appointment: J. Thomas Manger takes command
After a nationwide recruitment, the Capitol Police Board announced the selection of J. Thomas Manger to be Chief of the United States Capitol Police and he assumed command on July 22–23, 2021, replacing Acting Chief Pittman and beginning a longer-term effort to professionalize and rebuild the force after the attack [3] [4]. Manger brought decades of law-enforcement leadership in the National Capital Region and was publicly tasked with implementing many of the oversight and audit recommendations that followed January 6 [3] [7].
4. Context, contested narratives and institutional pressures
The rapid leadership changes in 2021 occurred under intense political and public scrutiny: Sund’s resignation was both a response to calls from congressional leaders and a focal point for debates about responsibility that later bipartisan reviews said must be seen in the context of systemic interagency failures, while Pittman’s acting role and Manger’s appointment were framed as necessary to stabilize the department [6] [1] [3]. Different actors had implicit agendas—politicians seeking accountability, agency leaders defending operational choices, and watchdogs pressing for reform—and these perspectives shaped coverage and public memory of who was “the” chief during 2021 [1] [6].
5. Why the question of “who was chief in 2021” matters
Naming the chiefs who led the U.S. Capitol Police across 2021 matters because accountability, institutional reform, and the allocation of responsibility for security lapses are tied to specific leadership periods: Sund was the sworn chief at the time of the attack, Pittman was the acting head during the immediate recovery and reform initiation, and Manger became the permanent chief charged with long-term fixes—each role carried different authorities, expectations, and political implications [1] [2] [3]. Public records and agency communications clearly document this sequence, even as investigations and political narratives have continued to contest interpretations of what each leader could or should have done [1] [6].