I don't know what the staffing level before the shutdown was. Wikipedia says that the WWII memorial was patrolled by park police 24/7 and staffed by interpretive rangers from 9:30am to 11:30pm, which suggests that your claim that "there is no full time staff for any of the particular monuments" is false. Also, the WWII memorial has become something of a circus with media, congresscritters, etc. They need to have staffing to deal with this circus. This is one site out of hundreds. I'm sure if you go to any of the hundreds of parks that don't have cameras pointed at them you'll see a massive DECREASE in staff.
1) The park police are roving, and not dedicated to particular monuments or parks in the DC area. I wasn't aware of the interpretive Rangers working 2 hours a day, but regardless, they have definitely increased staff at all of the DC monuments.
In addition, they've attempted to close attractions they don't manage, like Mount Vernon, among others.
2) The WW2 memorial, and memorials in the DC area aren't the only places that security has been increased.
I'm sure you're not wrong in that over all of the 400+ locations, we have likely seen a decrease in personnel, but the executive branch is decidedly making a point of ensuring that the most pain is felt because of the shutdown.
Oh snap. Thanks, that was a pretty severe oversight.
Anecdotal, for sure, but as I live in the area, and visit those monuments fairly often, I find it a little interesting that I've never seen an 'interpretive ranger'.
I'll have to keep my eyes open for them if and when our government gets back up and running.
