SECRET SERVICE HISTORY - EXPANSION
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.
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.