In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special agents operate in criminal intelligence, counterterrorism, or counterintelligence-based roles as well, with one or all of these roles occasionally taking precedence over criminal investigatory tasks.
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and protection of people, property, and information. Its mission is to provide a safe and secure environment for officials to execute the foreign policy of the United States.
The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the principal law enforcement and security agency of the United States Department of State (DOS). As the operational division of DOS Bureau of Diplomatic Security, its primary mission is to provide security to protect diplomatic assets, personnel, and information, and combat transnational crimes connected to visa and passport fraud. DSS also conducts counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cybersecurity and criminal investigations domestically and abroad.
Patrick Francis Kennedy is a former career Foreign Service Officer who served as the U.S. State Department's Under Secretary of State for Management. He was Director of the Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing and Innovation. He has been Deputy Director for Management at the cabinet level Office of the Director of National Intelligence; he returned to the Department of State on May 7, 2007. Kennedy was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform and previously served as Chief of Staff for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. He was the Assistant Secretary of State for Administration for the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 2001. In 2014, Kennedy was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is an agency that reports to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights within the United States Department of State. Under the umbrella of its general mission of developing policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime, INL plays an important role in the training of partner nation security forces.
Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is United States Department of State's national security interagency program that offers reward for information leading to the location or an arrest of leaders of terrorist groups, financiers of terrorism, including any individual that abide in plotting attacks carried out by foreign terrorist organizations. RFJ directly addresses the foreign threat by identifying entities such as key leaders and financial mechanism of the foreign terrorist organizations. RFJ's mission objective is to obtain information that will protect American lives in best interest of U.S. national security. RFJ is managed by the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) administered by the U.S. State Department Office Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
A regional security officer (RSO) is a special agent of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) in charge of a regional security office. The RSO is the principal security attaché and advisor to the U.S. ambassador at American embassies and consulates. Working for the United States Department of State as special agents, RSOs are also considered to be officers of the State Department acting as specialists within the United States Foreign Service. The RSO is also the senior law enforcement representative at a U.S. Embassy.
Mobile Security Deployments (MSD) is a small specialized tactical unit within the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) of the United States Department of State. The MSD provides U.S. embassies and consulates with security support, protects the Secretary of State and other U.S. officials, including domestically as well as visiting foreign officials, and also provides security training at U.S embassies and consulates.
A Regional Security Office is the office at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate that oversees all functions of security. It is headed by a special agent of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) who has the title of Regional Security Officer (RSO).
The United States maintains numerous embassies and consulates around the world, many of which are in war-torn countries or other dangerous areas.
Gregory B. Starr is an American diplomat and the former Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security. He was previously the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security. He was selected by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on May 6, 2009.
The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.
The Bureau of Secret Intelligence was founded in 1916. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Secret Intelligence, later known as the Office of Security (SY) and now as the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, was also known as U-1, an off-the-books adjunct to the Division of Information.
Otto F. Otepka was a Deputy Director of the United States State Department's Office of Security in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was fired as the State Department's chief security evaluations officer on November 5, 1963; he had furnished classified files to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security. Otepka was later appointed by Richard Nixon to a position on the Subversive Activities Control Board; he retired in 1972.
Francis Xavier Taylor was the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), nominated by President Obama in 2014. In that role, he provided the Secretary, DHS senior leadership, the DHS components, and state, local, tribal and private sector partners with homeland security intelligence and information they need to keep the country safe, secure and resilient. DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis is a member of, and the Department’s liaison to, the U.S. Intelligence Community.
On December 21, 2015, in Bagram, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing six NATO service members.
Michael Turner Evanoff is an American security expert and government official who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security. Prior to assuming that role, he served as Vice President for Asset Protection & Security for Walmart from 2014 to 2017. Evanoff previously served as Chief Security Officer at Coca-Cola and as Global Director of Security at Och-Ziff Capital Management. From 1985 to 2011, he served as a special agent in the Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, where he held senior positions with the Overseas Security Advisory Council, NATO Office of Security, Secretary of State protection detail, and eight U.S. missions overseas. In his capacity at the State Department, he provided personal protection services to former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Paul R. Houston is an American federal law enforcement officer who serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the U.S. Department of State for the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) for Threat Investigations and Analysis (TIA).
Julie S. Cabus is an American federal law enforcement criminal investigator who serves as the Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) as a Deputy Assistant Secretary and assistant director of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Training Directorate since 2021. As a member of the Senior Foreign Service and team, she led and participated in numerous projects in the public and the private sectors, involving threat analysis and investigations, managing both domestic and overseas training of all security and law enforcement training programs and policies for DSS. Prior to her current employment, she served as the assistant director for DSS Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate as the deputy assistant director at Office of Intelligence and Threat Analysis. As the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Diplomatic Security, she manages the Office of Anti-Terrorism, the Office of Technical Security Engineering, the Office of Mobile Security Deployments (MSD). Cabus served in the Diplomatic Security Service Washington Field Office as the Bureau Security Officer. Special Agent Julie Cabus has been employed with the United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security since March 1999 and was named head of security and law enforcement training at U.S. Department of State in March 2021.
Carlos Matus is an American diplomat at the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) who serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and director of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) administered by United States Department of State. The DS is a law enforcement security arm of the State Department which leads security and law enforcement focusing on safeguard national security interests. Matus has served over 37 years as a career member in the Senior Foreign Service (SFS.) From 2004 to 2017, Carlos Matus was appointed as a Regional Security Officer (RSO) at the United States Embassy of Kabul, Afghanistan. During 2018 to 2019, Carlos Matus served for the High Threat Program Directorate while he worked as a Regional Director for High Threat Programs as the Deputy Regional Director for Contingency Operations focusing on Afghanistan, while Matus worked as the Officer Director of Protective Intelligence Investigations. From 2019 to 2020, Carlos Matus served as the Deputy Assist Secretary for Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate. Matus currently serves at Diplomatic Security Affairs Office for Criminal Investigations at Office of Public Affairs for Department of Justice and DSS.
