You ’ve seen them in the flick and on video . They ’re big , serious - face guy cable clad in spiffy courting and ties forever cluster around the chairwoman , with shades shielding their centre and earpieces with wires snaking across the backs of their necks .
This is certainly one snapshot of U.S. Secret Service agents at work . But it ’s not the only one . The other primary job of Secret Service agents is to battle counterfeiting and money fraud . Presidential protection is , in some ways , a subaltern function .
The Secret Service was make in 1865 , at the close of theAmerican Civil War . At that prison term , a massive amount of imitative American currency was mobilize around the country . To help void the job , President Abraham Lincoln created the Secret Service as a division of the U.S. Treasury Department [ beginning : United States Secret Service ] .
In 1894 , its agents start intimate protective cover of President Grover Cleveland . But then President William McKinley was assassinate in 1901 , and Congress officially requested that the Secret Service protect all chair . The first Secret Service White House Detail begin in 1902 , and consisted of just two men .
Fast forward to today , and some 6,500 people work for the Secret Service as special agents ( 3,200 employees ) , uniformed division officers ( 1,300 ) , and administrative , professional and technical livelihood personnel department ( 2,000 - plus ) [ source : United States Secret Service ] . Women are eligible for all status , and one cleaning woman , Julia Pierson , briefly conduct the delegacy as theatre director , between 2013 and 2014 . In April 2017 , President Donald Trump select Randolph " Tex " Alles as the agency ’s 25th manager .
Although the agency has long been admired , late scandals regard employee misconduct and security breach have stain its repute . In addition , employee esprit de corps is low . In a 2016 survey of Union employee working at 305 means , the Secret Service was rated last for employee satisfaction [ source : Leonnig ] .
The means ’s modest morale may be traced , in part , to a heavy workload . Around the prison term of the sight , the Secret Service had 500 fewer employee than it was authorized to hire . Since then , the pace of hiring has turn out ; anadditional 800 employeeswere added to the payroll in 2017 , in part to deal with the travels of Trump to his many weekend nursing home , as well as the travel of his adult children and their spouses all over the Earth .
History of the Secret Service
When the Secret Service was started in 1865 , counterfeiting was a major concern . Back then , an dumfounding one - third to one - half of the money flow around the country was fake . Hence , PresidentAbraham Lincoln ’s origination of the Secret Service to ferret out the criminals . Just two eld later , in 1867 , the agency ’s duties were expanded to include nabbing mass trying to defraud the authorities via smuggling , mail robbery , land fraud and other substance [ sources : Blakemore , United States Secret Service ] .
Ironically , Lincoln was killed the evening he sign the legislation to create the Secret Service . But it was n’t until President William McKinley ’s assassination in 1901 — the third of a sit down president — that the Secret Service ’s duty were lucubrate to include presidential protection . Over the next hundred , the presidential aegis piece was constantly tweaked , often as the resultant role of another character assassination or try .
Today , Secret Service protection is mandated for thepresidentand vice President of the United States and their immediate phratry ; former presidents , spouses and minor children under long time 16 ; major presidential and frailty presidential candidates and their spouses ; and extraneous heads of state and their spouses when they ’re visit the U.S. ( A president’sadult childrenmay decline protection . )
Secret Service protection is also mandated at events that are designated National Special Security Events by the chief of the Department of Homeland Security — for instance , the Super Bowl . At these effect the Secret Service will take the lead in security operations . It will join forces with local law enforcement to ensure that everyone — both high-up and the general public — are hold open good [ beginning : United States Secret Service . ]
Over this same 100 - plus days , other changes have occurred inside the agency . For good example , the Secret Service take up restraint of the White House Police Force in 1930 and the Treasury Guard Force , now anticipate the Treasury Police Force , in 1937 . In 1971 , the agency swore in its first five female special agent . And in 2003 , the Secret Service was channelise from the Treasury Department to the new Department of Homeland Security [ source : United States Secret Service ] .
After the Sept. 11 , 2001 , terrorist fire , and the subsequent handing over of the USA Patriot Act , the agency was tasked with create a home web of Electronic Crimes Task Forces ( ECTFs ) free-base on a model then being used in New York . The ECTFs play to preclude and fighting attacks on America ’s citizen , institutions and critical structure , namely those demand cybercrime .
The ECTFs are composed of local , body politic and federal police enforcement personnel , plus prosecutors and member of private industry and academe . Everyone on the undertaking forces works together to bring his or her special expertise to defend such offence as bank fraud , viruses and louse , net threat and identity operator theft . Today there are 39 ECTFs scattered across the Carry Nation and in Europe . In summation , the Secret Service collaborates with another 46 Financial Crimes Task Forces [ reference : U.S. Department of Homeland Security , United States Secret Service ] .
The Protection Mission
The protection opus of the Secret Service ’s operation is its most visible . Yet while it look rather glamorous , it can be a difficult occupation with a high burnout rate , especially if for those assigned to presidential protection . The hours are unrelenting — two week of a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. transformation , follow by two workweek on a midnight switch , then two hebdomad on an even transformation and finally two calendar week of preparation . Then the cycle repeats . And , of grade , agents may have to take a bullet to protect someone else [ beginning : Nguyen ] .
People who are for good protected , like the Chief Executive and first lady , have " item , " or mathematical group of factor who are assigned to them . agent rap for the prestigious Presidential Protective Division , or PPD , are generally handpicked from a cadre that has establish itself over the long time . But Secret Service agent do n’t formally process for the president — they work for the Department of Homeland Security [ source : Nguyen ] .
Not every broker working in security is shadowing a VIP , ready to grab his gun or twist a suspicious soul to the ground . Many agent do betterment work and threat assessment , trying to prevent an incident from occurring . This involves distinguish likely endangerment to the individuals being protect , and reconnoiter out spots where the protect individual will be present .
When the Chief Executive travels , for model , every hotel employee who will somehow be in striking with the presidential entourage is subjected to a backcloth deterrent . If anyone on the staff has a felonious story , even a minor one , that person will not be allowed to work out that day . And the base where the president is staying — as well as the ones above and below it — are cordoned off to everyone except extremity of the security detail [ sources : United States Secret Service , Marum ] .
Agents attribute to physically protect the president accompany him everywhere — to physical examinations and even into the wash room . If the president wish to ramble on , as former PresidentBill Clintondid , an factor run away along with him . Some agent in the PPD moving picture every motorcade in eccentric there ’s an attack ; a video could provide utilitarian evidence . When the President of the United States is home , agent always watch his food preparation to ensure no one is mixing in toxic component . When he trip , Navy stewards come along to prepare his meals , again under the watch of the Service [ source : Rossum ] .
All of this watchfulness comes at a price . In fiscal year 2017 , the Secret Service was spending more than $ 750 million on protective operation , or nearly half of its $ 1.8 billion budget [ source : Fandos ] . But in August 2017 , the Secret Service had to request a budget increase , saying it had enough money for the difference of this fiscal year , but that consort through Sept. 30 . After that , the means will hit a federally mandated jacket crown on earnings and overtime . The Washington Postreported that the Secret Service now protects 42 people around the clock , 11 more than it did under President Barack Obama . And the organization has had years of budget deficit .
Counterfeiting and Cyber Crimes
The Secret Service was created in 1865 to scrap counterfeiting and fraudulence . At the metre , this dwell of tag down people making fake U.S. neb and arresting them .
Today , the Secret Service is mainly concerned with safeguarding America ’s defrayment and financial systems from financial and computer - ground crimes .
Agents work to thwartphishingemails , invoice takeovers , malicious software , hacking attacks and other major data break . Trained analyst conglomerate datum and look for pattern in credit card theft , identity larceny , money laundering and other crimes . They do this through established national and external networks of electronic and financial offence chore forces , comprising experts in academia , the private sphere and all levels of law enforcement .
The delegacy also has an advanced forensics lab that is habitation to the International Ink Library — the world ’s largest — which contains more than 9,500 type of inks dating to the 1920s . The depository library is maintained jointly by the Secret Service and Internal Revenue Service . The agencies continually buy pens and ink to keep their retention current , as well as involve pen and ink manufacturing business to voluntarily put forward their new ink formula annually . The samples are used to avail law of nature enforcement distinguish or escort various documents pertain to a crime they are investigating [ source : Bowen and Schneider ] .
The forensics research laboratory also comprise the Forensic Information System for Handwriting database , or FISH . Pisces allows document tester to rake and digitise script , such as that in any threatening notes . Once the script is digitized , it can be compared to other sampling for potential smash . The agency also has access to database for match pharmaceutical drug , analyzing the tread radiation pattern made by various case of shoes , and analyzing bullet and magazine casings .
Besideshandwritingand document depth psychology , forensics agents also work in area such as polygraph test , fingerprints , fake designation documents and cite carte , and help educate state and local law enforcement cooperator in certain investigative science . In 2016 , the agency executed 2,125 arrests for savings bank shammer , forge U.S. currency , identity pseud and the same .
In 1994 , Congress added another job to the Secret Service ’s investigatory mission : provide forensic and technical assistance to help find missing and exploited children [ source : United States Secret Service ] .
Becoming a Secret Service Agent
So you want to become a Secret Service agent ? Before you could even utilise for the job , you must be a U.S. citizen , between the ages of 21 and 37 and have a uranalysis masking to curb for illegal drug use . You should n’t have any visible tattoos or piercings , and will be subject to age , vision and physical condition requirements . You may have to pass a polygraph examination and/or medical exam , too , depending upon the position for which you ’re applying . In summation , all prospective agents must slide by a Top Secret security headway process , which can take up to nine months . The Secret Service generally see for those with a knight bachelor ’s degree or equivalent Department of Education and experience [ reference : United States Secret Service ] .
If you make it past the written examination and audience , you ’ll be send to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco , Georgia , for a 10 - calendar week education program , which focus on investigation techniques and deplorable law . After that you ’ll move on to an 18 - week course in special agent basic training , held in Washington , D.C. This program teaches organizational policies and procedures , marksmanship and exigency music , among other subjects .
Once formally on the caper , agent typically serve several years in a U.S. field bureau , then a few more in a protective assignment . After that , you may have a choice of work in the bailiwick , at the government agency ’s military headquarters in Washington , D.C. , or in training . In improver , if you ’re fluent in a extraneous voice communication , you may be capable to mould overseas .
During your early years in protection , you will not be protect the current chairperson . Those jobs go to longstanding broker . Instead , you ’ll in all probability be assigned to a former president ’s point . You may also exploit at a " endure post , " which means manning the protection perimeters at a presidential event . For object lesson , if the Chief Executive is speaking at a hotel , you might be delegate to stand in a stairwell for several hr after it has been checked and clear [ source : Nguyen ] .
You may also be predict upon to travel at a moment ’s notice . Let ’s say you ’re working in a field of operations office and the president is journey somewhere in your state to speak . You may be tapped to serve well in a standing place at that event . You ’ll get extra pay for the excess work , but you may not be able to turn it down .
If you ’re offer up the job , you ’ll be hire as a federal authorities employee at the GL-07 or GL-09 storey , count upon your education and experience . The pay scope depends on where you end up working and your existent job .
Secret Service Successes and Failures
Clearly , the Secret Service has done a lot of good over the years . Probably its main winner as far as presidential protection start do in 1981 , when broker Jerry Parr helped save then - PresidentRonald Reagan ’s life sentence after a craze assassinator shoot Reagan in the chest . It was Parr who ab initio got Reagan into his limo , and who lead the limousine to change course and direct to the hospital rather of the White House [ source : Welker and Gittens ] .
The agent also successfully protected two major effect being held simultaneously . One was Pope Francis ' 2015 sojourn to New York City , Philadelphia and Washington , D.C. , which ask riddle 1.3 million mass . At the same sentence , it protected the United Nations ' 70th General Assembly , which drew 160 world leader to New York City [ source : Leonnig ] .
On the investigative side , the agency retrieve millions in counterfeit money annually . In 2011 , the Secret Service recover $ 154.7 million in imitative monies , along with arresting , or help in the arrest of , nearly 3,000 soul in the U.S. and abroad . And in 2016 , the radical scored its single most renowned imitative putsch in history , seizing $ 30 million in imitative U.S. dollars and 50,000 euro in Lima , Peru [ sources : Erb , United States Secret Service ] .
But several mellow - visibility incidents have sullied the way ’s image . One November evening in 2011 , a human commence shooting at theWhite Housewith a semi - machinelike rifle . Several shots reach the White House residential area before he flee . Secret Service agentive role on - internet site heard the shot , but had no clue what was live on on and afterwards failed to properly inquire . It take four day for the office to actualise bullets had actually struck the White House — and they only figure that out after a housekeeper note broken glass and cement on the floor in one room [ source : Leonnig ] .
In 2012 , a vast dirt erupt when 175 agents traveled to Colombia forward of President Barack Obama ’s pending visit ; 12 of the agentive role took prostitutes back to their hotel . presently after this intelligence broke , others aver similar misconduct by agents had take place in El Salvador in 2011 [ germ : O’Keefe , CBS News ] .
In 2014 , a mentally unstable person , armed with a knife , made it through five rings of security system and was sprinting for the White House front doorway before being stop by security . Also that twelvemonth , another three agent were sent home from a presidential head trip to the Netherlands after being find passed out inebriated in a hotel [ source : Graham ] .
A congressional investigation determined that the biggest cause of the Secret Service ’s problems was " an parochial civilization that has historically been resistant to modify " [ source : Washington Post ] . The current Secret Service leader , Randolph D. " Tex " Alles , is the first in 100 years who did not come from the social status of the bureau . He is a retired Marine Corps general and was acting lieutenant commissioner of Customs and Border Protection . Whether his assignment changes the culture , improves team spirit and turn to other issues remains to be seen .
Lots More Information
In the recent 1990s and early 2000s , we lived across the street from a Secret Service agent . It was fascinating to learn about the line of work . His prior assignment was protecting former President Jimmy Carter , so he and his family had been living in Georgia . Despite President Carter ’s modern years , the former president was improbably active and go a lot — something like 300 - plus daytime per yr . So our neighbour sound out he was n’t home very much , which was n’t fun .
Our neighbor and his fellowship moved in 2003 . Then , in 2015 or so , I was contacted by someone affiliated with the Secret Service . They need to interview me about this neighbor . I ca n’t remember the exact reason why , but it had something to do with the fact that the government constantly go on tabs on all of its agents , interview their families , supporter and neighbors — past and present — to strain and ensure the agent are dissemble appropriately . It was telling to do it the government goes through such extensive measures to ensure its Secret Service agent are reliable .
