Secret Service

Federal agency, originally founded to combat counterfeiting, best known for its role in protecting the president [Page 650]of the United States. In recent years, the scope of Secret Service duties has broadened to include fighting electronic crime.

The Secret Service, created as part of the Treasury Department in 1865, is the oldest general law enforcement agency of the U.S. government. Established to halt the spread of counterfeit currency, the agency's responsibilities were expanded in 1867 to investigating any attempts to defraud the government. Targets of early Secret Service investigations included the Ku Klux Klan, smugglers, mail robbers, and bootleggers.

The Secret Service provided occasional protection for presidents beginning in 1894 with President Grover Cleveland. However, it was not until the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley that the agency was assigned to protect the president full time. In 1922, Congress created the White House Police at the request of President Warren G. Harding. Eight years later, this force was placed under the supervision of the Secret Service. It was renamed the Executive Protection Service in 1970 and its jurisdiction was extended to include protection of foreign diplomatic missions on U.S. soil. Over the years, Secret Service protection was extended to the president-elect, vice president, former presidents, major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their immediate families, as well as visiting heads of state and their spouses.

Laws enacted in the 1980s and 1990s expanded the purview of the Secret Service into the areas of electronic fraud, bank fraud, and overseas counterfeiting operations. The Telemarketing Fraud Act and the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, both enacted in 1998, provided the Secret Service with a mandate against computer fraud. The agency's jurisdiction was expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which increased the Secret Service role in investigating criminal computer activities. In this role, the Secret Service has established nationwide electronic task forces to combat computer crimes.

On March 1, 2003, the Secret Service became part of the newly created Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is a signal of the importance that the U.S. government places on computer and electronic crime. Adding the Secret Service to DHS, a cabinet-level department, puts the agency in direct touch with the president and at the center of the war on international terrorism.