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SECRET SERVICE HISTORY - EXPANSION
Timeline | Beginnings | Expansion | Today
The Investigative Mission
The Secret Service continues to suppress the counterfeiting of currency and securities of the
United States and of foreign governments. The Service is also responsible for investigating the
fraud and forgery of U.S. checks, bonds, and other obligations. In 1982, Congress passed
legislation expanding Secret Service investigative jurisdiction to include fraud related to false
identification documents and devices. In 1984, Congress passed additional legislation
expanding Secret Service investigative jurisdiction further to include fraud and related
activities involving credit and debit cards; investigative authority relating to computer
fraud; and, at the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, authorization to investigate
fraud associated with the electronic funds transfer system of the U.S. Treasury. In 1990,
Congress further expanded the Service's jurisdiction regarding criminal violations against
federally insured financial institutions to include savings and loan investigations.
The Protective Mission
Secret Service protective responsibilities have increased dramatically since the days of
President Theodore Roosevelt. Today the Service protects:
- the President, the Vice President (or other official next in order of succession to
the Office of President), the President-elect and Vice President-elect;
- the immediate families of the above individuals;
- former Presidents* and their spouses, except when the spouse remarries;
- children of former Presidents until age 16;
- visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them,
other distinguished foreign visitors to the U.S., and official representatives of the
U.S. performing special missions abroad;
- major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, and, within 120 days of the general
Presidential election, the spouses of such candidates;
- other individuals at the direction of the President.
*In 1997, Congressional legislation become effective limiting Secret Service protection for
former presidents to a period not more that 10 years from the date the President left office.
The Secret Service Uniformed Division
The first formal attempt to provide security at the White House occurred during the Civil War.
The "Bucktail Brigade" (members of the 150th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers)
and four officers from the Metropolitan Washington Police Force were assigned to protect White
House property. On October 1, 1922, President Warren G. Harding created the White House Police
under the supervision of the White House Military Aide's Office.
President Hoover decided that White House Police officers and Secret Service agents at the
White House could better coordinate their efforts if they were under centralized control.
In 1930, Congress placed the White House Police under the supervision of the U.S. Secret Service.
White House Police responsibilities increased significantly in 1970, to include security
for foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. area. At the same time, the force
was renamed the Executive Protective Service. In 1977, the name was changed again to the
United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.
Today, Uniformed Division officers provide security at the White House, the Vice President's
residence, buildings in which Presidential offices are located, the U.S. Treasury Building
and the Treasury Annex, foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan
area, and foreign diplomatic establishments in other parts of the United States as the
President may direct.
Uniformed Division officers carry out their protective responsibilities through a network
of foot patrols, vehicular patrols, and fixed posts. They provide additional assistance
to the overall Secret Service protective mission through special support programs such
as the canine, magnetometer, and countersniper units.
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