
What do you know about the Secret Service? For most of us the answer is-not much. The only thing I knew about the Secret Service is that they protect the president. Since the Secret Service plays such a critical role in Blue 52 I thought I’d do a little research and find out more about it. I hope you enjoy reading what I found out. If you know more about this organization please feel free to tell us in a comment. All I’m giving you is a little basic knowledge.
The Secret Service is one of America’s oldest federal investigative law enforcement agencies. It was founded in 1865 as a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department. It was originally created to combat counterfeiting which was a serious problem at the time. They didn’t get involved in protecting the president until 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York. So today they have two major goals: protection of the president, the vice-president, and other high government officials and protecting our financial infrastructure.
Secret Service agents are authorized to do all of the following things:
Carry guns
Execute warrants
Make arrests without warrants if necessary
Offer rewards for information
Investigate certain kinds of fraud
Protection
Would you like to be a Secret Service agent? If so, be aware that you’ll have to pass a full background check that lasts anywhere from six to nine months. They’ll be checking your employment and police records, credit history, school transcripts, and military records. They’ll also be asking your neighbors and acquaintances about you. To be hired you’ll have to be able to get Top Secret government clearance.
Still want to join up? If you’d like to be an agent here’s the place to start: http://www.secretservice.gov. Lots of luck!
George HW Bush was one of the first presidents I saw close up… though he was V-P at that point. Anyhow, I was intrigued to see how many Sec Svc agents I could spot. Quite a few. I ended up standing not far from one particular guy — who had the ear piece and was in comm with one or more of his colleagues.
He noticed me watching him and said something (thru whatever mic they were using). At that point, I remembered the scene in “Taxi Driver” where the crazy guy (DeNiro) sidles up to the Sec Svc guy and starts asking him questions… and suddenly the agent alerts all his colleagues to this probable nut.
That’s when I thought I’d better stop watching the agent so closely and put some distance between us. HA!
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Good call. I’d have moved along too. I don’t blame you for watching though. There’s a certain fascination in how they do their job.
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Fascinating info. People in this job have to be a special breed, and I’d be in awe of them.
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They must be very special. I couldn’t do it. If I heard a gun fire I’d hit the floor or run, LOL.
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