Assistant Director Michael Plati,
Office of Protective Operations
Michael J. Plati is a member of the Senior Executive Service with over 26 years of federal law enforcement and homeland security experience serving as the 24th Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations, where he leads the Agency’s global protective mission and its 3,000 employees.
In this position, Mr. Plati manages the execution of the Office of Protective Operation’s $200.7M budget and leads 11 operational divisions and collaborates with the Technical Security Division to research, develop, and deploy technologies that reduce risks to protectees, protected facilities, and protected events. He also develops and updates operational policies; oversees a special projects team that responds to operational, technical, and administrative issues at all levels of the organization; and directs staffing and logistical operations for the Directorate and 11 operational divisions to ensure divisions and events are properly resourced.
Prior to becoming Assistant Director, Mr. Plati served in multiple leadership positions as the Senior Executive Service (SES) Deputy Assistant Director Office of Protective Operations, (SES) Special Agent in Charge of the Dignitary Protective Division, and (SES) Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Investigative Division. As the Special Agent in Charge of the Dignitary Protective Division, he was responsible for the resourcing and planning for Campaign 2020/2021 with a budget of $150M, directly managing $48M of the account. Mr. Plati was responsible for the planning and coordination of enterprise-wide structured policies and programs associated with Secret Service planning, organization, supervision of protective details for visiting heads of state/government, as well as the security operations for major presidential and vice-presidential candidates and their spouses. He was responsible for executive oversight of all the internal and external leadership of security operations at designated National Special Security Events. His management portfolio included the support planning, policy development, and other special projects supporting the security programs and protective operations. As Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Investigative Division, he oversaw the planning and coordination of domestic and international criminal investigations involving counterfeiting, financial, electronic, and cybercrimes. Mr. Plati was responsible for the nationwide resourcing and strategy of 40 Electronic Crime Task Forces and 46 Financial Crimes Task Forces (now consolidated into Cyber Fraud Task Forces) across the United States. Mr. Plati was responsible for the planning and management of an annual budget of $40M.
Mr. Plati has also served in other key leadership positions within the Secret Service to include Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Investigative Division, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Cyber Operations, Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge, Dignitary Protective Division, serving as the coordinator for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Administrative Operations Division, Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge Criminal Investigative Division.
During his 26-year career with the U.S. Secret Service, Mr. Plati has coordinated major security operations, such as the 2021 59th Presidential Inauguration collaborating with over 15,000 personnel from other Federal, State, Local, government and law enforcement agencies. Mr. Plati led the 2016 Democratic National Convention, a National Special Security Event, in Philadelphia, PA, serving as the lead coordinator, and directly oversaw the operational planning of more than 10,000 personnel across Federal, State, Local and Department of Defense agencies.
Mr. Plati began his law enforcement career with the Secret Service in the New York Field Office. He subsequently served in the Presidential Protective Division, and upon completion of his assignment to the Presidential Protective Division, he was transferred to the Criminal Investigative Division.
Mr. Plati holds a Bachelor of Arts from Providence College, Providence, RI. In addition, he completed both The Key Executive Leader Certificate program at American University’s School of Public Affairs and the Chief Information Security Officer Executive Management Certification Program – Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He also completed the General and Flag Officer Homeland Security Executive Seminar Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.