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The protective detail of the Secret Service are masters of what they do, and they know how to optimize their capabilities against a potential enemy's weaknesses

The protective detail of the Secret Service are masters of what they do, and they know how to optimize their capabilities against a potential enemy's weaknesses and strengths. My respect for SS capabilities declined greatly earlier this month after it was revealed 4 highly trained agents including one on the First Lady’s detail were accepting bribes from bogus DHS agents with high powered weaponry who are likely foreign agents. A postal inspector figured it out, not the SS. If SS can’t discern an obvious threat and ethical violation, how good are they at the other tasks they are supposedly masters of? Another question: why do they have anything to do with investigating counterfeit currency? That particular responsibility should be reassigned to another agency at Treasury or FBI so Secret Service can concentrate on their core mission of protecting the president.

eatonphil 5y ago
> Another question: why do they have anything to do with investigating counterfeit currency? That particular responsibility should be reassigned to another agency at Treasury or FBI so Secret Service can concentrate on their core mission of protecting the president. The Secret Service is under the Treasury. Its original core task was counterfeit currency. Only after McKinley was assassinated (20 years after Garfield was assassinated (15 years after Lincoln was assassinated)) I think was it expanded to also include protecting the president.
- bombcar 5y ago
  Given that currency has dead presidents on it you’d think it’d be a conflict of interest to have the Treasury protecting live ones.
- ricktdotorg 5y ago
  FYI Secret Service is no longer part of Treasury, has been part of DHS since March 1 2003.
  - eatonphil 5y ago
    Ah I forgot about that. Thanks.
briandear 5y ago
The SS’s core mission isn’t protecting the president. It wasn’t until 1901 that they added protection to their duties. They have been tasked with financial crimes since 1865. Creating another agency when the SS is very good at what they do is pointless. Despite occasional missteps (any large org will have problems from time to time,) the SS is one of the best federal law enforcement agencies ever created. To your point of creating another agency so the SS can focus on the president, we could ask the same question why the FBI investigates kidnappings and bank robberies while also doing domestic counter intelligence. It’s possible for agencies to do more than one thing.
- eatonphil 5y ago
  > the SS is one of the best federal law enforcement agencies ever created. Not that I disagree but I've never heard anyone say this. I'm curious why you think so.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  >> the SS They really do not like being called "The SS". That has severe historical connotations.
paulcole 5y ago
Here’s the thing that goes for Secret Service agents, doctors, cooks, computer programmers, professional baseball players, etc.: Most people are just OK at their jobs. They do enough to get by but they make mistakes — sometimes big mistakes. They’re not superstars, they’re average.
sandworm101 5y ago
>>Another question: why do they have anything to do with investigating counterfeit currency? Because they were founded long before today's cadre of federal police agencies (FBI/ATF etc). At that time the federal government's mandate was rather slim. If there was going to be a federal police force it had to be in relation to an federal matter such as currency. Understand the "secret" in the name to be the old use, meaning more private than clandestine, as used in secretary. They worked for the president and federal government rather than the states and could not enforce state laws. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service#Early_years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service#E... >> With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time,[14] Abraham Lincoln established a commission to make recommendations to remedy the problem. The Secret Service was later established on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. It was commissioned in Washington, D.C. as the "Secret Service Division" of the Department of the Treasury with the mission of suppressing counterfeiting.

eatonphil 5y ago

> Another question: why do they have anything to do with investigating counterfeit currency? That particular responsibility should be reassigned to another agency at Treasury or FBI so Secret Service can concentrate on their core mission of protecting the president. The Secret Service is under the Treasury. Its original core task was counterfeit currency. Only after McKinley was assassinated (20 years after Garfield was assassinated (15 years after Lincoln was assassinated)) I think was it expanded to also include protecting the president.

bombcar 5y ago
Given that currency has dead presidents on it you’d think it’d be a conflict of interest to have the Treasury protecting live ones.
ricktdotorg 5y ago
FYI Secret Service is no longer part of Treasury, has been part of DHS since March 1 2003.
- eatonphil 5y ago
  Ah I forgot about that. Thanks.

briandear 5y ago

The SS’s core mission isn’t protecting the president. It wasn’t until 1901 that they added protection to their duties. They have been tasked with financial crimes since 1865. Creating another agency when the SS is very good at what they do is pointless. Despite occasional missteps (any large org will have problems from time to time,) the SS is one of the best federal law enforcement agencies ever created. To your point of creating another agency so the SS can focus on the president, we could ask the same question why the FBI investigates kidnappings and bank robberies while also doing domestic counter intelligence. It’s possible for agencies to do more than one thing.

eatonphil 5y ago
> the SS is one of the best federal law enforcement agencies ever created. Not that I disagree but I've never heard anyone say this. I'm curious why you think so.
sandworm101 5y ago
>> the SS They really do not like being called "The SS". That has severe historical connotations.

paulcole 5y ago

Here’s the thing that goes for Secret Service agents, doctors, cooks, computer programmers, professional baseball players, etc.: Most people are just OK at their jobs. They do enough to get by but they make mistakes — sometimes big mistakes. They’re not superstars, they’re average.

sandworm101 5y ago

>>Another question: why do they have anything to do with investigating counterfeit currency? Because they were founded long before today's cadre of federal police agencies (FBI/ATF etc). At that time the federal government's mandate was rather slim. If there was going to be a federal police force it had to be in relation to an federal matter such as currency. Understand the "secret" in the name to be the old use, meaning more private than clandestine, as used in secretary. They worked for the president and federal government rather than the states and could not enforce state laws. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service#Early_years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service#E... >> With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time,[14] Abraham Lincoln established a commission to make recommendations to remedy the problem. The Secret Service was later established on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. It was commissioned in Washington, D.C. as the "Secret Service Division" of the Department of the Treasury with the mission of suppressing counterfeiting.