U.S. Park Police officers are located in the Washington, DC, New York City, and San Francisco metropolitan areas, and investigate and detain persons suspected of committing offenses against the United States.

[13] Taylor came to the role with 25 years of experience in federal law enforcement, previously having served as a special agent in U.S. Secret Service, Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General, and Director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division.

[14] The United States Park Police operates patrol district stations in the New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas.

The US Park Police Aviation Unit is the primary resource for these remote rescues requiring helicopter access.

It started with one Bell 206B JetRanger and a staff of three pilots and three rescue technicians based at the Anacostia Naval Air Station in a shared space with the MPD Aviation Branch.

It became the fourth helicopter in the unit's history to carry the designation "Eagle One" and the same registration number as that of an earlier aircraft whose crew affected the rescue of victims after the crash of Air Florida Flight 90.

[20] The crews of U.S. Park Police Aviation resources are frequently called to assist at significant and historical disasters and emergency incidents throughout the National Capital Region.

[23] In January 1982 USPP helicopter pilot Don Usher and his partner Gene Windsor saved the lives of five passengers from the Air Florida Flight 90 crash.

Usher and Windsor, at great risk to themselves and lacking a winch or any sort of rescue equipment, flew their Bell 206 "Eagle Two" inches above the frozen Potomac River to pull the survivors from the 34°F (1.1°C) water before depositing them ashore for waiting ambulance crews.

[24] At one point, Usher flew the helicopter so close to the river that the skids went below the water as Windsor stood on them to tie a rescue line around surviving flight attendant Kelly Duncan, who couldn't grip the life preserver thrown to her due to hypothermia.

[26][27] In 1989, Officers David Duffey and William Lovegrove rescued two people in the Glen Echo Flood after a parking lot collapsed.

[29][30][31] In 1993, officers of the Park Police rescued passengers of the Golden Venture ship, which had run aground on the beach at Fort Tilden in Rockaway, Queens.

The man was brandishing a large hunting knife taped to his hand and refused to surrender during a confrontation with the officers.

In a video posted to YouTube, Park Police appeared to body slam and choke an individual who was silently dancing.

[39] U.S. Park Police Eagle 1 also conducted a rescue mission and removed an injured shooting victim from the roof of building 197 along with three other survivors ultimately saving their lives.

[42][43] In 2015, U.S. Park Police detained an on-duty Secret Service special agent who was part of a detail for US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

The Park Police were sued following the incident for violating the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizures.

Officers hid behind bushes to catch cabdrivers picking up passengers, claiming that idling cars were parked.

[46] In November 2017, Park Police shot and killed Bijan Ghaisar, an unarmed Virginia man after a hit and run and three separate vehicle pursuits.

[47] According to the family, when a doctor arrived to examine Ghaisar for organ donation, the Park Police denied access, declaring the brain-dead man "under arrest" and his body "evidence.

[48] After more than a year and in response to a lawsuit, US Park Police named the shooters as officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya.

In a 2015 memo written by Chief MacLean, he told the entire force not to use any audio or video recorders "while on duty".

[53] In 2019, the sexual assault of a female Park Police officer by her male colleague two years earlier was disclosed.

[54] On June 1, 2020, USPP officers cleared the streets bordering Lafayette Park, DC of protesters on the order of Attorney General William Barr.

Gini Gerbasi of St. John's Episcopal, and many protesters noted the use of tear gas, flashbangs, and rubber bullets to disperse the peaceful crowds.

[55] Media subsequently reported that USPP assaulted the protesters with pepper spray canisters, which were found at the scene.

[57] This specific incident was referred to the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General but that investigation was still ongoing as of August 2021 and no relevant report currently appears on the OIG website.

[60] Park Police officers also began to clear the crowd before completing the final dispersal orders and 25 minutes before a planned curfew that was earlier announced by the mayor.