From the history of the US Secret Service
150 years ago, 5 July 1865, was created by the United States Secret Service (United States Secret Service - USSS). The secret service was subordinated to the Ministry of Finance and the main task of this unit was the fight against the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit money and securities. Only in 1883, the Secret Service was recognized as an independent organization and from 1894, began to guard the American presidents. The result is a unique structure that simultaneously protects both senior officials and the national financial system.
Thus, the American "SS" cherish the most expensive that the United States has: the monetary system through which the Anglo-Saxon elite still controls most of the planet and the symbol of the countries - the most "independent and democratic" head of state. True, despite all the thoroughness with which the SS works, since 1963, almost all US presidents have been subjected to assassinations, and the attackers managed to come close to the main person of the state.
Of stories Service
In April 1865, Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCallaf suggested to President Abraham Lincoln the creation of the Secret Service (SS). Due to the rampant counterfeiters during the Civil War, the country was threatened with a financial crisis: from one-third to half of the banknotes in circulation were counterfeit. In addition, there were about 1600 state-owned banks in the state, each of which issued its own bills of exchange and other payment facilities that differed from each other. In total, there were about 7000 of their various types. Such diversity created a favorable field of activity for all sorts of scammers.
Hugh Makkalaf proposed to create a special structure for the withdrawal of counterfeit money from circulation and catch those who produce this money. The president supported this idea. Thus arose the Secret Service of the Ministry of Finance. Its headquarters was in Washington (in 1870, they moved to New York, but in 1874, they returned to Washington).
The SS was at that time the only federal intelligence service, therefore, as soon as problems arose in the United States or abroad, they immediately turned to this service for help. As a result, her powers were gradually expanded. In 1867, the SS was charged with “identifying people who commit fraud against the government”. Members of the radical Ku Klux Klan organization, self-racers, smugglers, robbers who attacked postal stagecoaches, as well as people who committed land fraud and other crimes against federal laws, fell into this category.
With the 1894, the SS began to guard the then US President Grover Cleveland for the first time, but still unofficially and not around the clock. During the Spanish-American War 1898, the Secret Service took over the role of counterintelligence. When US President William McKinley died in an assassination attempt in 1901, Congress unofficially demanded the Secret Service to protect the US president. From 1902, the SS began to implement the official 24-hour security guard of the president. Since 1908, the “SS” began to protect not only the current president, but also the president, who is elected, but has not yet taken office. In the same year, some of the agents of the SS formed the core of the newly created Bureau of Investigation - the future of the FBI.
After the outbreak of the First World War, the SS again received counterintelligence functions. From 1917, the SS began to constantly guard the close relatives of the president. In 1922, the White House police forces were formed on the basis of the White House unit (created in 1860). In 1930, the protection of the White House was subordinated to the Secret Service, which has since been fully responsible for all aspects of the protection of the American president. In the 1940-ies with the help of the SS was formed by the Office of Strategic Services, a prototype of the CIA.
In the future, the powers of the SS constantly expanded. In 1961, the US SS was charged with executing the protection of the former presidents “within a reasonable period of time”. From 1962, the Secret Service was charged with protecting the vice president or, in the absence of one, another senior official who is the official successor to the head of state and the newly elected vice president. Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, Congress passed a law protecting the widow of the deceased president and her younger children for 2 years. In 1965, Congress expanded the scope of the law. Now the former presidents and spouses had the right to life protection, and their children were protected until they reached 16 years. In 1968, after the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Congress passed a new law, according to which the main candidates for the position of president and vice-president were also subject to protection (later the relatives of the vice-president were protected).
In 1970, White House police were renamed Executive Defense Services and were given the task of protecting foreign missions in Washington. From 1971, the SS was supposed to protect the heads of foreign states and governments visiting America, as well as other official guests. Somewhat later, the Secret Service was supposed to guard foreign missions throughout the country.
In 1984, Congress announced the use of credit cards by fraudsters to be a federal crime. The secret service was supposed to investigate crimes related to fraudulent use of credit cards, computer fraud affecting federal government, and identity fraud. In 1986, the Treasury Police entered the SS. In 1990, SS men were given the right, along with the Ministry of Justice, to investigate any civil or criminal offense against federal financial institutions.
From 1998, the SS is responsible for security during national events that require special security measures. These include the inauguration of the president, state funerals, congresses of political parties, as well as those events that will receive the appropriate status. 25 November 2002. President George W. Bush signed the “Internal Security Bill”, and as a result of the SS, with 1 March, 2003 was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security.
Structure of the Secret Service
Before 2003, the SS was part of the Ministry of Finance, and its head was subordinate to the Minister of Finance. The headquarters of the US SS, as well as the main part of the guard units are located in Washington. The largest of the US SS structures is the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service or the Secret Service of the Uniformed Division. Employees of this unit wear a uniform similar to the police. The unit protects those individuals for whose security the SS is responsible, as well as the White House, presidential residences outside Washington, the presidential administration building, the vice-presidential residence, the Ministry of Finance building and foreign missions in the United States.
The president, vice president, members of their families, etc., that is, those whose security is ensured on a permanent basis, have permanent protection. Those persons who do not have permanent security and are protected for a certain period, such as foreign guests, are protected by temporary special agents from regional offices.
The direct protection of the American president and his family is provided by a special Presidential Protective Division. When the president leaves the residence, the security team is reinforced at the expense of the members of the special group, which should provide protection against assault. The antisurm group was formed at the end of the 1970s. on the rights of a separate unit of the SS, and in 1992, it became part of the personal security division of the head of state. The main function of this unit is to repel a possible attack or bind the enemy in combat, to allow the rest of the guards to evacuate the president to a safe place. In addition, a number of other specialized groups are included in the Security Division, for example, the anti-sniper division.
Two specialized units of the SS are engaged in investigating crimes in the field of finance. One of them performs the oldest task - struggling with counterfeiters. The SS investigates all crimes related to counterfeiting of money, checks of the Ministry of Finance, credit cards. and so on. The service also investigates falsification of state documents. SS is engaged in the protection of the rule of law on the Internet and monitors compliance with computer law. To do this, a network of divisions to combat cybercrime (Electronic Crimes Task Forces - ECTF) throughout the United States was created.
Degradation
The general degradation of the American state touched the Secret Service. The US SS has repeatedly in recent times been at the center of scandals associated with the unseemly behavior of its employees and the unauthorized entry of unauthorized persons into the White House. The scandals associated with drunkenness and sexual promiscuity have become a constant phenomenon.
So, in 2012, there was a sex scandal involving Colombian prostitutes, in which 12 Secret Service agents and several officers of the US Army were involved. US Secret Service director Mark Sullivan had to apologize for the behavior of his staff, who were part of the security division of President Barack Obama, during the US President’s state visit to Colombia. In 2014, three employees who were supposed to guard Barack Obama during a visit to Europe to a nuclear security summit were removed from service due to misconduct. On a business trip, the guards were overwhelmed and behaved indecently, although secret service officers were strictly forbidden to drink alcohol during trips abroad. And in March 2015, two high-ranking Secret Service agents crashed a car into a fence near the White House. The agents were intoxicated after spending the night at the club.
Information