The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security with the purpose of conducting investigations into currency and financial-payment crime,and protecting U.S. political leaders,their families,and visiting heads of state or government. The Secret Service was,until 2003,part of the Department of the Treasury,due to their initial mandate of combatting counterfeiting of U.S. currency. The agency has protected U.S. presidents and presidential candidates since 1901.
The Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives (BATFE),commonly referred to as the ATF,is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of federal offenses involving the unlawful use,manufacture,and possession of firearms and explosives;acts of arson and bombings;and illegal trafficking and tax evasion of alcohol and tobacco products. The ATF also regulates via licensing the sale,possession,and transportation of firearms,ammunition,and explosives in interstate commerce. Many of the ATF's activities are carried out in conjunction with task forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers,such as Project Safe Neighborhoods. The ATF operates a unique fire research laboratory in Beltsville,Maryland,where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arson can be reconstructed. The ATF had 5,285 employees and an annual budget of almost $1.5 billion in 2021. The ATF has received criticism over its handling of the Ruby Ridge siege,the Waco siege and other incidents.
The Waco siege,also known as the Waco massacre,was the siege by U.S. federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians between February 28 and April 19,1993. The Branch Davidians,led by David Koresh,were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in unincorporated McLennan County,Texas,13 miles northeast of Waco. Suspecting the group of stockpiling illegal weapons,the Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco,and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound and arrest warrants for Koresh and several of the group's members.
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 Federal Protective Service (FPS) is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is also "the federal agency charged with protecting and delivering integrated law enforcement and security services to facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration (GSA)"—over 9,000 buildings—and their occupants.
John William Magaw is an American former police officer and administrator for the United States Federal Government. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Otterbein College,in Westerville,Ohio in 1957. He began his career in public service in 1959 as a state trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
William Ralph Basham Jr. is an American law enforcement official who served as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection,director of the United States Secret Service,director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers,and chief of staff of the Transportation Security Administration.
Carl Joseph Truscott is a security expert and was the sixth Director of the Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives in the United States Department of Justice under George W. Bush,a position he held from 2004 to 2006.
William Henry Pickle was the 37th United States Senate Sergeant at Arms. He was sworn in on March 17,2003,after a lifetime of public service,especially relating to the security of the institutions of the United States,and served until Terrance W. Gainer assumed the post in January,2007.
Mark J. Sullivan is a former federal law enforcement agent who served as the 22nd Director of the United States Secret Service from May 31,2006,to March 27,2013. Sullivan succeeded W. Ralph Basham and was succeeded by Julia Pierson.
Brian L. Stafford was the 20th Director of the United States Secret Service. Preceded by Lewis C. Merletti,he was sworn in on March 4,1999 by the then Secretary of the Treasury,Robert E. Rubin. He was succeeded by W. Ralph Basham.
Joseph Petro is the executive vice president and managing director of Citigroup Security and Investigative Services. He is also co-chairman of the United States Department of State's Overseas Security Advisory Council. He also served for 23 years as a special agent in the United States Secret Service;eleven of them with presidents and vice presidents. For four of those years he stood by the side of Ronald Reagan.
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.
David Koresh was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians,a religious sect and offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventists,Koresh claimed to be its final prophet. His apocalyptic Biblical teachings,including interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the Seven Seals,attracted various followers.
Christopher Falkenberg is a security expert and the founder and president of Insite Security,a risk management firm. He is a former Special Agent for the United States Secret Service and litigator at Davis Polk &Wardwell.
Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr. was the third Inspector General for the Social Security Administration of the United States of America,serving from November 24,2004,to May 31,2016.
Julia Ann Pierson is an American former law enforcement official. On March 27,2013,President Barack Obama appointed her as the 23rd Director of the United States Secret Service. Pierson was the first female director of the agency. Amid a series of security lapses involving the Secret Service,she resigned the position on October 1,2014.
Joseph "Joe" P. Clancy is an American law enforcement official. He was the 24th Director of the United States Secret Service. Clancy previously served as head of the agency's presidential protection division until 2011,when he retired and became director of corporate security for Comcast.
James M. Murray is an American former law enforcement officer who served as the 26th director of the United States Secret Service from 2019 to 2022.
Anthony M. Ornato is the former assistant director of the United States Secret Service Office of Training. He was the service's deputy assistant director who headed the security detail of president Donald Trump until he was detailed again to The White House when the president named him White House Deputy Chief of Staff for operations in December 2019. After his tenure as a detailee in the Trump administration,he returned to the Secret Service where he worked as the assistant director in the office of training until August 29,2022.
