United States Secret Service
USSS logo USSS logo
Agency overview
Formed	1865
Jurisdiction	Federal; investigating financial crime and providing Presidential protection
Employees	3,200 agents 1,200 uniformed officers
Agency Executive	Director, Mark J. Sullivan
Child Agency
Website
www.secretservice.gov

The United States Secret Service is a United States federal government law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Role

The Secret Service has primary jurisdiction over the prevention and investigation of counterfeiting of U.S. currency and U.S. treasury bonds and notes, as well as protection of the President, Vice President, President-elect, Vice President-elect, past Presidents and their spouses (except when the spouse re-marries), certain candidates for the offices of President and Vice President within 120 days of a general presidential election, children of former presidents until age 16, visiting foreign heads of state and government along with their spouses (all called "protectees"), other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President, and National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. It also tracks suspicious people and investigates a wide variety of financial fraud crimes and identity theft and provides forensics assistance for some local crimes. The Secret Service Uniformed Division (UD) assists in the protection of foreign embassies and the White House within Washington, D.C. Due to the necessary discretion of this organization, many details are currently unknown about the Secret Service. Like most law enforcement agencies, the Secret Service generally has a "no comment" policy on its actions and investigations.

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 tuxedo to blue jeans. Photographs often show them wearing sunglasses and a communication earpiece. The attire for UD 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. President Richard Nixon, after traveling through Europe, had his Secret Service agents wear elaborate uniforms to state functions. However, they were discontinued after being deemed too imperial.

The shoulder patch of the USSS UD 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

The Secret Service was commissioned on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C. as the "Secret Service Division," to suppress counterfeit currency, which is why it was established under the United States Department of the Treasury. At the time, the only other federal law enforcement agencies were the United States Park Police, U.S. Post Office Department - Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations, now known as the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Marshals Service. 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. Prior to its formal establishment as a Treasury agency, during the Civil War the Secret Service, under the direction of detective Allan Pinkerton, was the espionage and counterespionage agency of the United States. It was the first domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency. It no longer has, and has not for over a century, had these responsibilities. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress informally requested Secret Service presidential protection. A year later, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for protection of the President. In 1902, William Craig was the first Secret Service agent killed while riding in the presidential carriage, in a road accident.

In 1950, President Truman was residing in the Blair House, across the street from the White House, while the executive mansion was undergoing renovations. Two men approached the Blair House with the intent to assassinate President Truman. Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, who were Puerto Rican nationalists, opened fire on Private Leslie Coffelt 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 die while defending 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 Agent Tim McCarthy stepped in front of President Ronald Reagan during the assassination attempt 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 state police and the military to safeguard the President when he travels, in Air Force One, Marine One, and by limousine in motorcades.

Although today this is the Secret Service's most visible role, 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, IRS, CIA, ATF, and DEA 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 6,000 employees: 3,100 Special Agents, 1,200 Uniformed Division employees, and 1,700 technical and administrative employees. Special agents either serve on protective details or investigate financial and homeland security-related crimes.

Secret Service Uniformed Division officers protect:

• the White House Complex, the Main Treasury Building and Annex, and other presidential offices
• the President and members of his immediate family
• Number One Observatory Circle the official residence of the Vice President at the US Naval Observatory in the District of Columbia
• the Vice President and members of his immediate family
• major presidential candidates within 120 days of the general Presidential election, however this appears to be changing for the 2008 campaign. http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=233964429387+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
• foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.

The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division is similar to the Capitol Police and is in charge of protecting the physical White House 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. Kennedy's assassination, Congress authorized protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees (Public Law 90-331). Congress also authorized protection of the widows of presidents until death or remarriage, and their children until age 16.

Congress passed legislation in 1994 stating that presidents elected to office after January 1, 1997, will receive Secret Service protection for 10 years after leaving office. Individuals elected to office prior to January 1, 1997, will continue to receive lifetime protection (Treasury Department Appropriations Act, 1995: Public Law 103-329).

The Service also investigates 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 scam) and credit card fraud.

The Secret Service also has concurrent jurisdiction for violation 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 Clinton signed Presidential Decision Directive 62, which established National Special Security Events (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 Treasury to the newly established Department of Homeland Security.

Prior to the 2008 Presidential election, the Secret Service generally protected major candidates over the 120 days preceding an election. As a former First Lady and Senator, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton already has Secret Service protection. On May 3, 2007, the Secret Service announced that Senator Barack Obama would also have protection following a request from the campaign.^[1]

Attacks on Presidents

Main article: List of United States Presidential assassination attempts

Since the 1960s, Presidents John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan^[2], and George W. Bush 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 the hand grenade thrown towards the podium failed to detonate. News reports at the time are unclear regarding whether President Bush was under Secret Service protection at the time, since the event occurred in Tblisi, Georgia and local security would likely have had primary responsibility.[1]



The Kennedy assassination 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 leaped 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. Johnson, who would become president, and sprawled over him to minimize chances he may be injured. Youngblood would later recall some of this in his memoir, Twenty Years in the Secret Service. That evening, LBJ called Secret Service Chief James J. Rowley and cited Youngblood's bravery.^[3]

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. .^[4]

Nevertheless, the agency overhauled its procedures in the wake of the Kennedy killing. Training, which heretofore had been confined largely to "on-the-job" efforts, was systematized and regularized.

The Reagan assassination attempt also highlighted the bravery of several Secret Service agents, particularly agent Tim McCarthy, who leapt in front of Reagan after four bullets had been fired by the would-be assassin, John Hinckley, Jr. McCarthy took one .22-caliber round in the chest, 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 Valor in 1982.

As duties expanded, so did the agency, growing from about 300 agents in the early 1960s to over 3,200 today.

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/her 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 elected to 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 President George W. Bush will be the first to receive protection for only ten years.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) continues to receive full-time protection as a former First Lady, as do Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush.

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.

Special Agents and officers carry the .357 SIG munition chambered in the SIG Sauer P229 pistol. In addition to their primary weapon, they are also trained on several close-combat weapons such as the Remington Model 870 shotgun, the IMI Uzi, FN P90, and the HK MP5 (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^[5]. Also, it has been confirmed that all Secret Service vehicles equipped with armored glass now feature "one-way glass" allowing agents to shoot out of the vehicle without exposing themselves by exiting the vehicle or opening a window.

Basic strategies include:

• Meet any resistance with overwhelming force
• Provide enough protection to allow the protectee to escape
• Conduct extensive preparatory research in order to plan for all contingencies

Secret Service involvement in rescue attempts during 9/11

The Secret Service New York City Field office was located at 7 World Trade Center. 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 triage areas and evacuate people from the towers. One Secret Service employee, Master Special Officer Craig Miller [2] , died during the rescue efforts.

On August 20, 2002, Director Brian L. Stafford 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 on 9/11.

Directors

1. William P. Wood (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 (1912 – 1917)
10. William H. Moran (1917 – 1936)
11. Frank J. Wilson (1937 – 1946)
12. James J. Maloney (1946 – 1948)
13. U.E. Baughman (1948 – 1961)
14. James J. Rowley (1961 – 1973)
15. H. Stuart Knight (1973 – 1981)
16. John R. Simpson (1981 – 1992)
17. John W. Magaw (1992 – 1993)
18. Eljay B. Bowron (1993 – 1997)
19. Lewis C. Merletti (1997 – 1999)
20. Brian L. Stafford (1999 – 2003)
21. W. Ralph Basham (2003 – 2006)
22. Mark J. Sullivan (2006-Present)

Field offices

Main article: List of United States Secret Service Field Offices

The Secret Service has agents assigned to approximately 125 offices located in cities throughout the United States and in select foreign cities.

Secret Service in popular culture

• 24 - The Secret Service is regularly shown in action during scenes involving the President of the United States in this televised political action-drama. Glenn Morshower portrays veteran Special Agent and recurring team leader Aaron Pierce.
• Air Force One - Action film starring Harrison Ford. A group of Russian terrorists hijack Air Force One and hold the president's family and staff hostage. The Secret Service figures prominently, and all agents onboard are killed. The mentioned above actor in 24, Glenn Morshower also stars as an unnamed Secret Service agent who is responsible for helping to protect the President.
• Along Came a Spider - mystery novel and film, about a kidnapping investigated by a police officer and a Secret Service agent.
• Area 7- A book by Australian novelist Matthew Reilly centering around the President's visit to an Air Force base in Utah. When the President is forced into a battle royale against members of an elite Special Forces unit, the Secret Service attempt to protect him and are gunned down until only one remains. Marines stationed aboard Marine One fulfill the duty of bodyguards throughout the story.
• Beverly Hills Cop III - Axel Foley clashes with a dirty Secret Service agent while attempting to track down a killer who is involved in a counterfeiting operation.
• Chasing Liberty - A film starring Mandy Moore as the president's teenage daughter who travels Europe with an incognito Secret Service agent.
• Commander in Chief - Secret Service agents are often shown in this presidential drama protecting President Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis) and the first family.
• Dave - A film that shows the camaraderie between the body double of a comatose president, Kevin Kline, and his primary Secret Service agent, Ving Rhames. Rhames' character makes reference to the Secret Service's most visible activity(protecting the President) by saying "I would have taken a bullet for you."
• DAG, a short-lived situation comedy about an inept Secret Service agent assigned to protect the First Lady.
• First Daughter - A film starring Katie Holmes as the daughter of the president, Michael Keaton which showcases the protective lengths her father takes to protect his college-bound girl.
• First Kid - Sinbad stars as a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President's son.
• Guarding Tess - Film about a Secret Service agent (Nicolas Cage) assigned to guard a former First Lady(Shirley MacLaine).
• - In the popular video game, the last true mission takes place in the White House. The player can kill, incapacitate, or impersonate USSS agents.
• In the Line of Fire - Popular film starring Clint Eastwood as an aging Secret Service agent, investigating a plot to assassinate the President by a renegade CIA agent, played by John Malkovich.
• The Interpreter - Nicole Kidman plays an interpreter at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Sean Penn plays the Secret Service agent protecting her.
• Murder at 1600 - The head of the Secret Service interferes in the investigation of a murder in the White House.
• My Date with the President's Daughter - A movie that follows the president's daughter and her date as they avoid Secret Service agents in order to have some fun.
• My Fellow Americans - A movie about two former presidents and a scandal. A Secret Service agent snipes a main character.
• NCIS - Special Agent Kate Todd was originally a Secret Service Agent in the pilot episode Yankee White, which takes place aboard Air Force One. Other members of the service are seen throughout that episode and a few others.
• O'Hara, U.S. Treasury -David Janssen played the part of U.S. Treasury agent James(Jim)O'Hara who in four episodes of the series he works for The Secret Service.
• Prison Break - A Fox TV series where Secret Service agents are middlemen in a government conspiracy.
• Resident Evil 4 - A survival horror game. The game's main protagonist, Leon Kennedy, is revealed to be working for the United States Secret Service on his first mission.
• Rush Hour 2 - An action/comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. They work with the Secret Service in order to thwart a counterfeit money operation and catch the villain behind it.
• The Sentinel - Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland are Secret Service agents looking for a traitor within the agency.
• Taxi Driver - Secret Service agents foil an assassination attempt by the protagonist (Robert De Niro).
• The Simpsons - The Secret Service was shown in a Native American vision where Lisa Simpson was president. The Secret Service informed Lisa that she had three secret murders to use during her term in office. The Secret Service was also shown protecting former U.S. President George Bush, when they moved right across from the Simpsons' house.
• To Live and Die in L.A. - A film about a Secret Service agent (William L. Petersen) determined to bring down a counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe) by any means necessary.
• The Lions of Lucerne A a Brad Thor novel about the kidnapping of the president and the slaughter of a company of Secret Service agents commanded by ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath.
• Wild Wild West - Western comedy starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline as Jim West and Artemus Gordon, in an adaptation of the 1960s television show, The Wild Wild West. In the final scene, President Ulysses S. Grant declares West and Gordon to be the first Secret Service men.
• Without Fail - A Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, about protecting the Vice-President from an assassination threat.
• The West Wing - The Secret Service is regularly shown in action during scenes involving the President of the United States, his staff or his family, in this televised political drama. Michael O'Neill portrays Special Agent and recurring team leader Ron Butterfield.
• Man of the Year (2006 film) - The Secret Service can be seen providing protect for presidential nominee Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams). During the campaign, Dobbs has two secret service cars. During the night of the election while Dobbs is in the hospital visiting his manager, two agents are seen guarding the door. Moments after it is announced that Tom Dobbs won the election, additional Secret Service protection is assigned to Dobbs, including over 8 more agents arriving at the hospital. As President-Elect, Dobbs is seen with a larger security detail, including a motorcade.

References

See also

• Cadillac One
• Air Force One
• Marine One
• Diplomatic Security Service
• Presidential Security Service
• Queen's Police Officer
• Personal Protection Officer
• Praetorian Guard
• United States Federal Protective Service
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Protective Security Program
• William Craig, the first agent killed
• White House Communications Agency
• Secret Service codenames
• Special Protection Group
• Paspampres

External links

• United States Secret Service website
• Protecting the US President abroad
• USSS and Italian law enforcement agencies protecting President George W. Bush in Rome (April 7], 2005)]
• Press release concerning rescue Efforts of USSS NY Field Office immediately after The World Trade Centre Attacks

•  • [ e] Agencies under the United States Department of Homeland Security

Secretary of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Coast Guard • Immigration and Customs Enforcement • Citizenship and Immigration Services • Customs and Border Protection • Federal Emergency Management Agency • Federal Law Enforcement Training Center • Secret Service • Office of Operations Coordination • Transportation Security Administration Under Secretary of Homeland Security for National Protection and Programs Office of Cyber Security and Communications • National Communications System • National Cyber Security Division • Office of Infrastructure Protection • Office of Intergovernmental Programs • Office of Risk Management and Analysis • US-VISIT Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology Explosives Division • Chemical and Biological Division • Border and Maritime Security Division • Command, Control, and Interoperability Division • Human Factors Division • Infrastructure/Geophysical Division • Environmental Measurements Laboratory Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management

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