`The Secret Service is authorized by law to protect The President, the Vice President, Secretary of State, President-elect and Vice President-elect and the immediate families of all of these. Former Presidents and their spouses receive protection for 10 years after they leave office and the children until they are 16 years old. Former Vice Presidents and their family receive protection for six months after they leave office. Major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their families receive protection for 120 days after the election is over.
Finally, the Secret Service can be order to protect anyone by an executive order of the President or the Secretary of Homeland Security. As well as protecting all of these people, each year the Secret Service must investigate thousands of threats and attempts to hurt the President of the United States. The current president Obama and his family has been one of the more threatened presidential families in recent history. ` `Within the Secret Service protection roles there are two different divisions, special agents and the Uniformed Division.
Unlike any other federal agency, the Secret Service special agents do not have a certain uniform that they always wear. What they wear depends on the event that they are attending and who they are protecting; it can range from a business suit to blue jeans. They are most often seen wearing black suits, sunglasses, and an earpiece. An interesting piece of their uniform is their lapel pins; although its color and shape are changed often the service’s star emblem in the center stays the same. These lapel pins are usually changed every hour when on the agents that travel with the President. The Uniformed Division was established in 1922 as the White House Police Force and was not fully incorporated into the Secret Service until 1930. The Uniformed Division is responsible for security at the White House complex, vice president’s residence, Department of the Treasury, and foreign diplomatic missions within the Washington, D. C. area. These officers conduct their responsibilities on foot, bicycle, vehicles, motorcycles, and fixed security posts . These officers are outfitted with standard police uniforms, as well as with ballistic identification vests for members of the countersniper, emergency response, and canine teams.
