Once again the Secret Service has taken a hit to its reputation, in lieu of a Secret Service agent having his firearm stolen. The Secret Service is supposed to be the most sophisticated and capable protection force offered to the President of the United States, important political figures and foreign dignitaries. However, in recent years the Secret Service has had some shortcomings, leading many to question their effectiveness, to protect the President and important politicians. In the newest Secret Service scandal, an unnamed Secret Service agent who worked in the Presidential Protective Division, had parked his car less than a block away from the Secret Service Headquarters, and once he returned to his car several hours later his rear window was open. The Secret Service agent then reported that “a bag with the listed property was taken out of the vehicle”; a black Sig Sauer handgun, an APX6000 radio, handcuffs, a USB flash drive, a black Patagonia bag and a Secret Service badge, No. 1266. Moreover, it has not been disclosed what was on the flash drive and if it contained any sensitive information, but what is known is that the USB was encrypted.
Did this Secret Service agent forget to lock his doors? Or better yet, why did he leave his gun, his badge, and other important articles in the backseat of his car, couldn’t he have left it in the trunk? Or maybe even taken the items with him? Why didn’t he park in a secure location, instead of parking in the street, with such sensitive items? This incident has us questioning the scope and competence of the entire Secret Service. Don’t they teach their agents not to leave sensitive materials in an exposed location, which could be accessed by a car thief, or some mischievous teens? Sadly, this is only one of the many blunders made by America’s “most secretive and elite protection force”, in the past few years.
Some of you might remember the controversy back in 2012, when several Secret Service agents were caught hiring prostitutes while on duty in Colombia, as President Obama was meeting with world leaders, yikes that didn’t turn out well. The latter incident got the accused agents fired, and the Secret Service took a hit to its legitimacy.
In 2014 the Secret Service made another major blunder, as the President rode in an elevator with an armed man, who had a criminal record. The President was not made aware of the lapse in his security, and Secret Service failed to do background checks of those in close proximity of the President, breaking protocol when an armed felon was in an enclosed space with the President. The incident wasn’t taken lightly, and the press had a field day, while the Secret Service had some major HR problems, leading to the resignation of the agency’s director, Julia Pierson several months after the incident.
On top of the current incident, involving a Secret Service agent having his firearm and other sensitive articles stolen, the agency has been put under a lot of pressure. Subsequently, a report released by Congress shows that one of the major problems the Secret Service faces is understaffing, due to hiring freezes in the past several years, which have left fewer and fewer agents to protect the President and the White house. Consequently, does the Secret Service provide effective protection for the President, or is it faltering band of glorified bodyguards.
