The
United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that falls under the
United States Department of Homeland SecurityThe United States Department of Homeland Security is a Cabinet department of the United States federal government with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the U.S...
. The sworn members are divided among the
Special AgentSpecial agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government.A special agent is not a 'spy' , but an investigator. An agent is a worker for any other federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence...
s and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States Department of Treasury.
The U.S. Secret Service has two distinct areas of responsibility:
- Treasury roles, covering missions such as prevention and investigation of counterfeiting of U.S. currency and U.S. treasury bonds notes and investigation of major fraud.
- Protective roles, ensuring the safety of national VIPs such as the President, past presidents, vice presidents, presidential candidates, their families, foreign embassies (per an agreement with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the parent organization of the Diplomatic Security Service . However, both terms are used interchangeably within the State Department and other agencies. Recently multi-agency press releases from the US Attorney’s offices use the technically correct Diplomatic...
(DS) Office of Foreign Missions-Bureau of Diplomatic Security - Office of Foreign Missions:Mandated by Congress, the Office of Foreign Missions provides the legal foundation to facilitate secure and efficient operations of U.S. missions abroad, and of foreign missions and international organizations in the United States...
(OFM)), etc.
The Secret Service began as an agency for the investigation of crimes related to the Treasury, and then evolved into the United States' first domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency. Many of the previous missions of the Secret Service were later taken over by more recently created agencies such as the
FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
,
ATFThe Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a specialized federal law enforcement agency and regulatory organization within the United States Department of Justice...
, and
IRSThe Internal Revenue Service is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law. The official U.S...
.
Roles
The Secret Service has primary jurisdiction over the prevention and investigation of counterfeiting of U.S. currency and U.S. treasury bonds notes. However, this agency is best known for their work protecting the
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
.
Today, the Secret Service is authorized by law to protect:
- The president, the vice president, secretary of state (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect and vice president-elect.
- The immediate families of the above individuals.
- Former presidents and their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the spouse remarries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the former president leaves office.
- Children of former presidents until age 16.
- Former Vice Presidents six months after their term ends (the Secretary of Homeland Security can extend the protection time).
- Families of former Vice Presidents six months after term ends.
- Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad.
- Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.
- Other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President.
- National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Secret Service also investigates a wide variety of financial
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
crimes and
identity theftIdentity theft is a term used to refer to fraud that involves someone pretending to be someone else in order to steal money or get other benefits. The term is relatively new and is actually a misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it...
and provides
forensicsForensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...
assistance for some local crimes. The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division (UD) assists in the protection of foreign embassies, the
United States Naval ObservatoryThe United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...
and the White House within
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
Due to the discretion of this organization, many details about the Secret Service are currently classified.
Appearance
Special Agents of the Secret Service wear attire that is appropriate for the surroundings. In many circumstances, the attire is a conservative business suit, but attire can range from a dinner jacket to blue jeans. Photographs often show them wearing sunglasses and a communication earpiece. They also wear lapel pins of a color and shape that, for security purposes, varies regularly, but each design prominently features the service's star emblem in the center. These lapel pins are usually changed hourly when agents travel with the President. The attire for Uniformed Division Officers includes standard police uniforms, or utility uniforms and ballistic/identification vests for members of the countersniper team, Emergency Response Team (ERT), and canine officers.
The shoulder patch of the USSS Uniformed Division consists of the presidential seal on white or black depending on the garment to which it is attached. While there is no official patch indicating "Secret Service", Special Agents have occasionally designed and purchased unofficial patches to trade in their extensive collaborations with uniformed law enforcement officers.
History
With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit, the Secret Service was commissioned on July 5, 1865 in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
as the "Secret Service Division" of the Department of the Treasury and was originally tasked with the suppression of counterfeiting. Ironically, the legislation creating the agency was on Abraham Lincoln's desk the night he was assassinated. At the time, the only other federal law enforcement agencies were the
United States Park PoliceThe United States Park Police is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It functions as a full service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco,...
, U.S. Post Office Department, Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations, now known as the
United States Postal Inspection ServiceThe United States Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. Its jurisdiction is defined as "crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S...
, and the
United States Marshals ServiceThe United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice and is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the United States....
. The Marshals did not have the manpower to investigate all crime under federal jurisdiction, so the Secret Service was used to investigate everything from murder to bank robbery to illegal gambling. After the
assassinationThe William McKinley assassination occurred on September 6, 1901, at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. United States President William McKinley, attending the Pan-American Exposition, was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist....
of President
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
in 1901,
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
informally requested that the Secret Service begin to provide presidential protection. A year later, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for protection of the President. In 1902,
William CraigWilliam Craig was the first agent of the United States Secret Service killed in the line of duty.-Biography:He was born in Scotland in November 1855. He was fair-haired, blue-eyed and stood 6 foot 4 and weighed 260 pounds. He spent 12 years in the British military and was honorably discharged and...
became the first Secret Service agent to be killed while riding in the presidential carriage, in a road accident.
Secret Service was the first U.S. domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency, hence its name, "Secret Service". Domestic intelligence collection and counterintelligence responsibilities were vested in the
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
after the FBI's creation in 1908. The U.S. Secret Service is not part of the
U.S. Intelligence CommunityThe United States Intelligence Community is a cooperative federation of 16 separate United States government agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the...
.
In 1950, President
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
was residing in the
Blair HouseBlair House is the official state guest house for the President of the United States. It is located at 1651-1653 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., opposite the Old Executive Office Building of the White House, off the corner of Lafayette Park....
, across the street from the White House, while the executive mansion was undergoing renovations. Two Puerto Rican nationalists,
Oscar CollazoOscar Collazo , was one of two Puerto Ricans who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman.-Early life:...
and
Griselio TorresolaGriselio Torresola born in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, was one of two Puerto Rican Nationalists who attempted to assassinate United States President Harry Truman. During the attack on the president, Torresola mortally wounded White House policeman Private Leslie Coffelt and wounded two other law...
, approached the Blair House with the intent to
assassinate President TrumanThe assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S Truman occurred on November 1, 1950. It was perpetrated by two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, while the President resided at the Blair House...
. Collazo and Torresola opened fire on Private
Leslie CoffeltLeslie William Coffelt was an officer of the White House Police, now known as the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division, who was killed in the line of duty....
and other White House Police officers. Though mortally wounded by three shots from a 9 mm Luger to his chest and abdomen, Private Coffelt returned fire, killing Torresola with a single shot to his head. To this day, Coffelt is the only member of the Secret Service to be killed while protecting a U.S. President against an assassination attempt. Collazo was also shot, but survived his injuries and served 29 years in prison before returning to Puerto Rico in 1979.
Special AgentSpecial agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government.A special agent is not a 'spy' , but an investigator. An agent is a worker for any other federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence...
Tim McCarthyTimothy J. McCarthy is the current police chief of Orland Park, Illinois and a former member of the United States Secret Service. He is most famous for turning into the line of fire, shielding President Ronald Reagan and taking one of John Hinckley, Jr.'s .22 caliber bullets in the 1981 Reagan...
stepped in front of President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
during the
assassination attemptThe Reagan assassination attempt occurred on March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr....
of March 30, 1981 and took a bullet to the abdomen, but made a full recovery.
The Secret Service Presidential Protective Detail safeguards the President of the United States and his immediate family. They are heavily armed and work with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the military to safeguard the President when he travels, in
Air Force OneAir Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States...
,
Marine OneMarine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the President of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by the HMX-1 "Nighthawks" squadron, either the large VH-3D or the newer, smaller VH-60N "WhiteHawk"...
, and by limousine in
motorcadeA motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade is a neologism coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"...
s.
Although the most visible role of the Secret Service today, personal protection is an anomaly in the responsibilities of an agency focused on fraud and counterfeiting. The reason for this combination of duties is that when the need for presidential protection became apparent in the early 20th century, there were a limited quantity of federal services with the necessary abilities and resources. The FBI,
IRSThe Internal Revenue Service is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law. The official U.S...
,
ATFThe Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a specialized federal law enforcement agency and regulatory organization within the United States Department of Justice...
, ICE, and
DEAThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the U.S...
did not yet exist. The United States Marshals Service was the only other logical choice, and in fact the U.S. Marshals did provide protection for the President on a number of occasions. In the end, however, the job went to the Secret Service.
The Secret Service has over 6,500 employees: 3,200 Special Agents, 1,300 Uniformed Division Officers, and 2,000 technical and administrative employees. Special agents serve on protective details, special teams or sometimes investigate certain financial and homeland security-related crimes.
The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division is similar to the
United States Capitol PoliceThe United States Capitol Police is a federal police force charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its territories.-History:...
and is in charge of protecting the physical
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
grounds and foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. area. The Uniformed Division was originally a separate organization known as the White House Police Force, but was placed under the command of the Chief of the Secret Service in 1930. In 1970, the role of the force, then called the Executive Protective Service (EPS), was expanded. The name United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was adopted in 1977.
In 1968, as a result of presidential candidate
Robert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician. He was a younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and acted as one of his advisers during his presidency. From 1961 to 1964, he was the U.S...
's assassination, Congress authorized protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees . Congress also authorized protection of the spouses of deceased presidents unless they remarry and of the children of former presidents until age 16.
Congress passed legislation in 1994 stating that presidents who enter office after January 1, 1997 will receive Secret Service protection for 10 years after leaving office. Presidents who entered office prior to January 1, 1997 will continue to receive lifetime protection (
Treasury Department Appropriations ActThe Treasury Department Appropriations Act may refer to one of may Acts of Congress enacted to fund the United States Department of the Treasury....
, 1995: ).
While primarily responsible for presidential protection, the Secret Service may also investigate forgery of government checks, forgery of currency equivalents (such as travelers' or cashiers' checks), and certain instances of wire fraud (such as the so called
Nigerian scamAn advance-fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance sums of money in the hope of realizing a significantly larger gain...
) and credit card fraud.
The Secret Service also has concurrent jurisdiction with the FBI over certain violations of federal computer crime laws. They have created a network of 24 Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTFs) across the United States. These task forces create partnerships between the Service, federal/state and local law enforcement, the private sector and academia aimed at combating technology based crimes.
In 1998, President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
signed Presidential Decision Directive 62, which established
National Special Security EventA National Special Security Event is a status declared by the United States Department of Homeland Security for certain events,...
s (NSSE). In that directive, it made the Secret Service the federal agency responsible for security at events given such a designation.
Effective March 1, 2003, the Secret Service was transferred from the
Department of the TreasurySeveral countries have a Department of the Treasury. These departments include:* Department of the Treasury * United States Department of the Treasury...
to the newly established Department of Homeland Security.
Attacks on Presidents
Since the 1960s, Presidents
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
,
Gerald FordGerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
,
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
, and
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
have been attacked while appearing in public. President Ford was not injured, despite being attacked twice. President Reagan was seriously injured but survived, and President Kennedy died from the attack. President Bush was also not injured, when a
hand grenadeA hand grenade is an anti-personnel weapon that explodes a short time after release. The French military term grenade probably comes from the shape of the pomegranate fruit, which is also called grenade in French....
thrown towards the podium where he was speaking failed to detonate. Others who have been on scene though not injured during attacks on Presidents include
Clint HillClinton J. Hill is a former United States Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade during the John F. Kennedy assassination. After Kennedy was shot, Hill ran from the car immediately behind the presidential limousine and leapt onto the back of it, holding on while the car raced...
, James Rowley,
William GreerWilliam Robert Greer was an agent of the U.S. Secret Service, best known for having driven President John F...
, and
Roy KellermanRoy Herman Kellerman was a U.S. Secret Service Agent assigned to protect President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963...
. One of the more distinguished Secret Service agents was
Robert DeProsperoRobert Lee DeProspero was a respected United States Secret Service agent, serving from 1965 to 1986 He is notable for serving on the Presidential Protective Division during a large part of the Reagan administration, and for heading that division towards the end of his tenure.DeProspero attended...
, the Special Agent In Charge (SAIC) of Reagan's Presidential Protective Division (PPD) from January 1982 to April 1985. DeProspero was the deputy to Jerry S. Parr, the SAIC of PPD during the Reagan assassination attempt on March 30, 1981.
The
Kennedy assassinationThe assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a Presidential motorcade...
spotlighted the bravery of two Secret Service agents. First, an agent protecting Mrs. Kennedy, Clint Hill, was riding in the car directly behind the Presidential Limousine when the attack began. While the shooting was taking place, Hill leapt from the running board of the car he was riding on and sprinted up to the car carrying the President and the First Lady. He jumped on to the back of the moving car and guided Mrs. Kennedy off the trunk she had climbed on and back into the rear seat of the car. He then shielded the President and the First Lady with his body until the car arrived at the hospital.
The other agent whose bravery was spotlighted during the assassination was Rufus Youngblood, who was riding in the vice presidential car. When the shots were fired, he vaulted over the back of the front seat, threw his body over Vice President
Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963...
, who would become president, and sprawled over him to minimize chances he might be injured. Youngblood would later recall some of this in his memoir,
Twenty Years in the Secret Service. That evening, Johnson called Secret Service Chief James J. Rowley and cited Youngblood's bravery.
The period following the Kennedy assassination was probably the most difficult in the modern history of the agency. Press reports indicated that morale among the agents was "low" for months following the assassination. Nevertheless, the agency overhauled its procedures in the wake of the Kennedy killing. Training, which until that time had been confined largely to "on-the-job" efforts, was systematized and regularized.
The
Reagan assassination attemptThe Reagan assassination attempt occurred on March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr....
also highlighted the bravery of several Secret Service agents, particularly agent Tim McCarthy, who spread his stance to protect Reagan as six bullets were being fired by the would-be assassin,
John Hinckley, Jr.John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, as the culmination of an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since...
McCarthy took one .22-caliber round in the abdomen, which was successfully removed by surgeons at George Washington University Hospital (also where Reagan was taken and recovered). For his bravery, McCarthy received the
NCAA Award of ValorThe NCAA Award of Valor is presented by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to recognize "courageous action or noteworthy bravery" by persons involved with intercollegiate athletics....
in 1982. After the near-successful assassination of Ronald Reagan, it was very clear that the Secret Service needed to increase its efficiency to protect the President.
Protection of former Presidents and First Ladies
In 1965, Congress authorized the Secret Service (Public Law 89-186) to protect a former president and his spouse during their lifetime, unless they decline protection. In 1997, Congress enacted legislation that limits Secret Service protection for former presidents to ten years after leaving office. Under this new law, individuals who were in office before January 1, 1997 will continue to receive Secret Service protection for their lifetime. Individuals entering office after that time will receive protection for ten years after leaving office. Therefore, former President Bill Clinton will be the last president to receive lifetime protection, and former President George W. Bush is the first to receive protection for only ten years (until 2019).
Barbara BushBarbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush. She is one of only two women to be both wife and mother to US presidents, the other being Abigail Adams...
,
Rosalynn CarterEleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter , commonly known as Rosalynn Carter, is the wife of the former President of the United States Jimmy Carter, and in that capacity served as the First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981. As First Lady and after, she was a leading advocate for numerous causes,...
,
Betty FordElizabeth Anne "Betty" Bloomer Ford is the widow of former United States President Gerald R. Ford and served as the First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. As first lady, Betty Ford was active in social policy and shattered precedents as a politically active presidential wife...
,
Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving within the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she served as First Lady of...
, and
Nancy ReaganNancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and served as an influential First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was born in New York; her parents divorced soon after her birth and she grew up in Maryland, living with an aunt and uncle while her...
will continue to receive full-time protection for life, as former
First LadiesFirst Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state. In the United States, it is also used for the spouse of the governor.-Origin:...
.
Laura BushLaura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the forty-third President of the United States, George W. Bush, and was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009....
will be the first to receive protection for only ten years (until 2019). The Secret Service uses
code namesThe United States Secret Service uses code names for U.S. presidents, first ladies, and other prominent persons and locations. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names...
for U.S. Presidents, First Ladies, Vice Presidents, their spouses, children, and other prominent persons and locations.
Protective operations, protective-function training and weaponry
Due to the importance of the Secret Service's protective function, the personnel of the agency receive the latest weapons and training. The agents of the Protective Operations Division receive the latest military technology (See: the Presidential Protection Assistance Act of 1976, codified in the notes of Title 18, Section 3056 of the U.S. Code Annotated). Due to specific legislation and directives, the United States military must fully comply with requests for assistance with providing protection for the president and all other people under protection, providing equipment, and even military personnel at no cost to the Secret Service.
The Uniformed Division has three branches: the White House Branch, Foreign Missions, and the Naval Observatory Branch. Together they provide protection for the following: The President and Vice President of the United States and their immediate families, presidential candidates, the White House Complex, the Vice President’s Residence, the Main Treasury Department building and its annex facility, and foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Special Agents and Uniformed Division Officers carry either the SIG Sauer P229 pistol chambered for the
.357 SIGThe .357 SIG pistol cartridge is the product of Swiss firearms manufacturer SIG-Sauer, in cooperation with the American ammunition manufacturer Federal Cartridge. While it is based on a .40 S&W case necked down to accept bullets, the .357 SIG brass is longer...
cartridge or the FN Five-seven pistol chambered for the
5.7x28mmThe 5.7x28mm cartridge is a small caliber cartridge developed by FN Herstal simultaneously with the FN P90 personal defense weapon and FN Five-Seven pistol. It is a bottlenecked cartridge with a 5.7 mm bullet and could be most accurately compared to the .22 Hornet or the competing Heckler &...
cartridge. In addition to their sidearms, they are also trained on several close-combat weapons such as the
Remington Model 870The Remington Model 870 is a U.S.-made pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, Inc. It is widely used by the public for target shooting, hunting, and self-defense...
shotgun, the
M4 carbineThe M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter version of the M16A2 assault rifle, achieving 80% parts commonality with the M16A2...
, the
IMI UziThe Uzi is a related family of open bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns. Smaller variants are considered to be machine pistols...
,
FN P90The FN P90 is a Belgian-designed personal defense weapon . The weapon's name is an abbreviation of Project 90, which specifies a weapon system of the 1990s...
, and the
HK MP5The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar.It is currently used by the armed forces and law enforcement units of over 40 countries...
(including the MP5KA4) submachine guns among others. They are also issued radios and surveillance kits in order to maintain communication with a central command post and other personnel.
Rescue attempts during September 11, 2001 attacks
The Secret Service New York City Field office was located at
7 World Trade Center7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name "7 World Trade Center" has referred to two buildings: the original structure, completed in 1987, and the current structure...
. Immediately after the attacks, Special Agents and other Secret Service employees stationed at the New York Field office were among the first to respond with first aid trauma kits. Sixty-seven Special Agents in New York City, at and near the New York Field Office, assisted local fire and Police rescue teams by helping to set up
triageTriage is a process of prioritizing patients based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately. The term comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate, sort, sift or select. There are two...
areas and evacuating people from the towers. One Secret Service employee, Master Special Officer Craig Miller, died during the rescue efforts.
On August 20, 2002, Director
Brian L. StaffordBrian L. Stafford was the 20th Director of the United States Secret Service. He succeeded Lewis C. Merletti, and was sworn in on March 4, 1999 by the then Secretary of the Treasury, Robert E. Rubin. He was succeeded by W. Ralph Basham.-Education:...
recognized the bravery and heroism of 67 Secret Service employees in the New York Field Office, by awarding the Director's Valor Award to employees who assisted in the rescue attempts in the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Directors
- 1. William P. Wood
William P. Wood was the first Director of the United States Secret Service.He was sworn in on July 5, 1865 by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. He then headed the newly formed Secret Service for four years until he resigned in 1869. Wood was a veteran of the Mexican-American War and was...
(1865 – 1869)
- 2. Herman C. Whitley (1869 – 1874)
- 3. Elmer Washburn (1874 – 1876)
- 4. James Brooks (1876 – 1888)
- 5. John S. Bell (1888 – 1890)
- 6. A.L. Drummond (1891 – 1894)
- 7. William P. Hazen (1894 – 1898)
- 8. John E. Wilkie (1898 – 1911)
- 9. William J. Flynn
William J. Flynn was the director of the Bureau of Investigation from July 1, 1919 to August 21, 1921.Born in New York City Flynn began his government career in 1897 after receiving a public school education. His first assignment was as an Agent in the United States Secret Service...
(1912 – 1917)
- 10. William H. Moran (1917 – 1936)
- 11. Frank J. Wilson
Frank J. Wilson was the Chief of the United States Secret Service and a former agent of the Treasury Department's Bureau of Internal Revenue, later known as the Internal Revenue Service, most notably in the 1931 prosecution of Chicago mobster Al Capone and federal representative in the Lindbergh...
(1937 – 1946)
- 12. James J. Maloney (1946 – 1948)
- 13. U.E. Baughman
Urbanus Edmund Baughman was the chief of the United States Secret Service between 1948 and 1961, under Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy....
(1948 – 1961)
- 14. James J. Rowley (1961 – 1973)
- 15. H. Stuart Knight (1973 – 1981)
- 16. John R. Simpson (1981 – 1992)
- 17. John Magaw
John W. Magaw was a United States Government administrator. He received a bachelor of science degree in education from Otterbein College, in Westerville, Ohio . He began his career in public service in 1959 as a state trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.He became a special agent with the...
(1992 – 1993)
- 18. Eljay B. Bowron (1993 – 1997)
- 19. Lewis C. Merletti
Lewis C. Merletti was the 19th Director of the United States Secret Service. He succeeded Eljay B. Bowron, and was sworn in on June 6, 1997, by the Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin...
(1997 – 1999)
- 20. Brian L. Stafford
Brian L. Stafford was the 20th Director of the United States Secret Service. He succeeded Lewis C. Merletti, and was sworn in on March 4, 1999 by the then Secretary of the Treasury, Robert E. Rubin. He was succeeded by W. Ralph Basham.-Education:...
(1999 – 2003)
- 21. W. Ralph Basham
W. Ralph Basham is the former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He had held the role until February 28, 2009. He previously served as the 21
st director of the United States Secret Service on January 27, 2003...
(2003 – 2006)
- 22. Mark J. Sullivan
Mark J. Sullivan is the current Director of the United States Secret Service.Sullivan succeeded W. Ralph Basham and was sworn in as the 22
nd Director of the Secret Service on May 31, 2006.-Early life:...
(2006 – present)
Field offices
The Secret Service has agents assigned to 136 field offices and the headquarters in Washington, D.C. while the field offices are located in cities throughout the United States and in Brazil (Brasilia), Bulgaria (Sofia), Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver), Colombia (Bogota [de Francisco]), China (Hong Kong), France (Paris), INTERPOL, Germany (Frankfurt), Italy (Rome), Mexico (Mexico City), EUROPOL (Netherlands/The Hague), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (Moscow), South Africa (Pretoria), Spain (Madrid), Thailand (Bangkok), and the United Kingdom (London).
Similar organizations
- U.S. Diplomatic Security Service
The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service is the federal law enforcement arm of the United States Department of State. The majority of its Special Agents are members of the Foreign Service and federal law enforcement agents at the same time, making them unique. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the...
(DSS)
- United States Federal Protective Service
For the Russian Federal Protective Service see:Federal Protective Service The Federal Protective Service is a component of U.S...
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- List of protective service agencies
See also
- Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations can be defined as a transnational grouping of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit...
- Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat...
- Ballistic vest
- Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security guard or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, or other threats.Most important public figures such as heads of state or...
- Secret Service codename
The United States Secret Service uses code names for U.S. presidents, first ladies, and other prominent persons and locations. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names...
- Commander-in-Chief's Guard
The Commander-in-Chief's Guard, commonly known as Washington's Life Guard, was a unit of the Continental Army that protected George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, the Guard was with General Washington in all of his battles...
—The American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
unit that also had the dual responsibilities of protecting the Commander-in-Chief and the Continental Army's money.
- Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States...
- Cadillac One
- List of United States federal law enforcement agencies
- Marine One
Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the President of the United States. It usually denotes a helicopter operated by the HMX-1 "Nighthawks" squadron, either the large VH-3D or the newer, smaller VH-60N "WhiteHawk"...
- Presidential State Car (United States)
- Private Military Company
A private military company provides specialized expertise or services of a military nature, sometimes called or classified as mercenary...
- White House Communications Agency
The White House Communications Agency , originally known as the White House Signal Detachment , was officially formed by the United States Department of War on 25 March 1942 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The WHSD was created to provide normal and emergency communications requirements in...
- William Craig
William Craig was the first agent of the United States Secret Service killed in the line of duty.-Biography:He was born in Scotland in November 1855. He was fair-haired, blue-eyed and stood 6 foot 4 and weighed 260 pounds. He spent 12 years in the British military and was honorably discharged and...
, the first Secret Service agent killed on duty
- Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...
- Security Guard
A security guard, is usually a privately and formally employed person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people....
- VIP Protection Unit
The Very Important Person Protection Unit otherwise known as G4 is a branch of the Hong Kong Police Force. The original name had been given to the unit since it is the 4th division of the former Royal Hong Kong Police's Special Branch division...
External links