September 20, 2003

HOMELAND SECURITY - BEYOND BODYGUARDS
By Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr.

Founded in 1865 to catch counterfeiters, the Secret Service informally -- and at times, without legal authority -- took on the job of protecting the president in 1894. In the late 1990s, those two missions branched into new roles in safeguarding cyberspace and in providing protection during "National Special Security Events" such as the Olympics. From 1998 to 2003, as Al Qaeda ramped up its war against the United States, the Secret Service's roster of agents grew by 40 percent; its budget jumped by 80 percent. And this spring, after 137 years in the Treasury Department, the service was folded into the new Homeland Security Department, reporting directly to Secretary Tom Ridge. That reorganization has threatened the Secret Service's long-standing jurisdiction over financial crimes on the one hand, and on the other, has given it added influence on critical decisions in organizing the new department.

The Secret Service is a small agency, not an alternative to the CIA or to the FBI (which was formed in 1908 with agents transferred from the service). But it has developed unique strengths, especially in bridging the traditional divides between federal, state, local, and private-sector organizations. The challenge for the service in its new bureaucratic home will be applying its specialized expertise to the broad security of the homeland, without diluting the focus that has long given the agency its strength.

Preventing and Protecting

The secret of Secret Service protection is that it goes far beyond the business-suited bodyguards standing beside the president. "The average person ... they see people with earpieces," said William Pickle, a former special agent in charge of the division that protects the vice president. "What they see is really just the tip of the iceberg." Whether it is protecting the president, some other dignitary, a location, or an event, the Secret Service sets up layered defenses extending far out from the target in both time and space -- and relies heavily on other agencies to help man those defenses.

The aim of all these elaborate precautions is to prevent attacks from happening. Indeed, this longtime emphasis on prevention is a hallmark of the Secret Service, and stands in stark contrast to most homeland-security efforts since 9/11, which have focused on beefing up capabilities to respond after an attack, said Dr. Saul B. Wilen, president of the San Antonio-based consulting think tank International Horizons Unlimited. Prevention is also the opposite of traditional law enforcement's focus on catching criminals after the crime. Unlike the FBI, "the Secret Service was in the preventive business prior to 9/11," said one Clinton National Security Council official.