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World Affairs
Mahesh

14/07/24 21:11 PM IST

US Secret Service

In News
  • Former US President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential elections, was shot at during an election rally in Butler Country, Pennsylvania.
Secret Service
  • The United States Secret Service was founded in 1865 and is one of the oldest federal investigative law enforcement agencies. Its initial mandate was to combat the counterfeiting of US currency, but this changed after the assassination of then-US President William McKinley in 1901.
  • Before him, Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James A Garfield had been assassinated in 1865 and 1881, respectively. 
  • This third assassination of a President in a little more than a generation–it was only 36 years since Lincoln had been killed–shook the nation and aroused it to a greater awareness of the uniqueness of the Presidency and the grim hazards that surrounded an incumbent of that Office.”
  • In 1902, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for the safety of the President.
  • It comes under the Department of Homeland Security and “employs approximately 3,200 special agents, 1,300 Uniformed Division officers, and more than 2,000 other technical, professional and administrative support personnel.
Significance
  • It is mandated to protect the vice president, the president-elect, their immediate families, former presidents and their spouses (except when the spouse remarries) and children of former presidents until age 16, among others.
  • Former Presidents, such as Trump, are entitled to lifelong protection unless they refuse it.
  • The service must also protect “major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election”.
  • Eligible candidates are identified by the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with an advisory committee.
  • Notably, candidates came under the agency’s ambit after the assassination of politician Robert Kennedy, who was running to become the Democratic Party’s official candidate for the 1968 presidential elections.
  • Many expected him to win the nomination amid a tight race. The security cover under the agency was then expanded to “maintain the integrity of the democratic process and continuity of Government.
Protection of people
  • The Secret Service’s powers include permission to carry firearms and to make arrests without warrants for any offence or felony under “reasonable grounds”.
  • Its website says, “We rely on meticulous advance work and threat assessments to identify potential risks to protectees. Our protective work starts long before our physical presence.”
  • The military further supports the Secret Service in its work through its Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams and communications resources.
  •  Local police aid the Secret Service in securing venues such as campaign rallies. Agents from other internal security agencies can also help.
  • Before large-scale events like campaign rallies, agents scan the venue for bombs or other threats.
  • Law enforcement officials typically put up barriers as a perimeter, and require all attendees to go through a metal detector to enter the venue.
  • Armed protective agents search all attendees’ bags and even wallets. Many rallygoers are patted down by hand.
Source- Indian Express

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