The Secret Service is responsible for protecting foreign heads of state or heads of government visiting U.S. soil. Additionally, the Uniformed Division’s Foreign Missions Branch provides year-round protection of embassies and diplomatic residences in Washington, D.C. Foreign leaders often visit the United States to attend NSSEs, such as the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City or a diplomatic summit. This past year, the Secret Service planned and implemented security operations for the 78th Session of the United Nationals General Assembly and the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, in addition to protecting visiting dignitaries at these events.

The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit took place in Washington, D.C. in December 2022, with heads of state from 44 nations attending. Beyond discussions at the Washington Convention Center, visiting dignitaries attended a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill, a forum at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History, and a dinner at the White House.

Ensuring the safety of events, locations, and people requires careful planning. Whereas NSSE planning timelines typically span one year, the Secret Service was afforded only three months to develop and execute a security plan in partnership with other law enforcement agencies. The event’s success was largely due to the Secret Service’s long-standing partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as its existing communications infrastructure that allowed for rapid establishment of a multi-agency communications center. Secret Service analysts and other partners further supported the protective efforts by assessing threats, managing risks, and creating specialized briefings.

Another essential element of the plan included establishing a secure perimeter consisting of anti-scale fences and checkpoints around the convention center. During the summit, Special Agents and Uniformed Division Officers stood post around the perimeter of the Convention Center. Special Agents and Uniformed Division Officers also protected visiting dignitaries at official events and hotels. When protesters demonstrated outside the Cameroon delegation’s hotel, Secret Service personnel monitored the demonstration and ensured that all dignitaries remained safe. Special Agents also facilitated motorcade movements to ensure visiting African leaders were able to safely navigate the challenging Washington traffic. Beyond the visible Special Agents and Uniformed Division Officers providing protection, a lot happens behind the scenes before, during, and after the event, from initial assessment to information sharing with partners and constant monitoring.

Securing events such as the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly allows the Secret Service to build partnerships with international protection agencies, which often support Secret Service protective operations when traveling abroad. Overall, protection of foreign dignitaries remains a key part of the Secret Service’s mission.

Established in 2001 with a class of eight recruits, the Motorcade Support Unit provides motorcycle-based support to protective motorcades, dignitary funerals, and other events of national significance. Today the unit has 17 team members and a fleet of 33 Harley Davidson motorcycles. These motorcycles and the personnel that drive them have since become a well-recognized symbol of the Secret Service.

Lieutenant Kenneth Smith has served on the motorcade unit for over two decades. “The minute I heard about the motorcade unit, it was all I wanted to do,” he says. Growing up in New York, Lieutenant Smith developed a passion for motorcycles while watching police motorcades ride in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. After joining the Secret Service, he served at the White House before transferring to the motorcade unit at the first opportunity.

While moving up through the unit’s ranks, Lieutenant Smith has been integral to the motorcade team’s maturation. To improve the effectiveness and professionalism of the unit, he upgraded the team’s emergency lights, acquired new uniforms, and expanded the team’s office space. He even worked with a graphic designer to design the team’s winged logo. In addition to these improvements, Lieutenant Smith also created a mechanic’s bay in the team’s garage. In the past they relied on outside mechanics for repairs, but today the Secret Service is hiring professional auto mechanics, providing cost savings for the Secret Service.

Lieutenant Smith also modernized the team’s equipment and gear by creating a life-cycle replacement program. The team typically replaces motorcycles every 5-6 years. The unit rides year-round, no matter the weather, which requires specialized gear. In winter, the motorcycles are equipped with sidecars to provide stability while driving on icy Washington, D.C. streets. Because Harley Davidson no longer produces these sidecars, the Secret Service sidecars require customized maintenance and care to remain operational.

Joining the Motorcade Unit is no easy feat. To join the unit, applicants must pass an intense two-week training course that includes a riding assessment, a physical fitness test, and a panel interview. Applicants must also lift the motorcycle upright from a downposition. Although applicants generally enter the program with significant motorcycle experience, learning to ride the heavy Secret Service motorcycles still proves challenging for many trainees.

To successfully pass this rigorous training, Officer-Technician Alta “Lauren” Gunawan says that applicants must have strong internal motivation and a positive attitude. The training “forces you to push through even when you think you can’t,” she says. During training, Officer-Technician Gunawan initially struggled to lift the motorcycle but remained determined. “I really wanted this,” she says. On her second attempt, Officer-Technician Gunawan lifted the motorcycle, passed the course, and became the first woman to join the Motorcade Unit.

Established in 2001 with a class of eight recruits, the Motorcade Support Unit provides motorcycle-based support to protective motorcades, dignitary funerals, and other events of national significance. Today the unit has 17 team members and a fleet of 33 Harley Davidson motorcycles. These motorcycles and the personnel that drive them have since become a well-recognized symbol of the Secret Service.

Officer-Technician Gunawan enjoys that she gets “paid to ride a motorcycle and be a part of history every day. It’s not just about riding a motorcycle though, it’s the passion and pride that I have for this unit, which I love.” Officer-Technician Gunawan encourages any motorcycle enthusiasts to apply. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to push yourself out of your comfort zone,” she says.

Lieutenant Smith also takes great pride in leading the Motorcade Support Unit. In his supervisory role, he especially enjoys the logistics involved in coordinating events. “Seeing something go off without a hitch after you’ve spent a lot of time planning it, that’s very satisfying,” he says. Going forward, Lieutenant Smith hopes to exchange more best practices with other law enforcement entities. The Milwaukee Police Department’s motorcade unit recently adopted a tactical change learned while training with the Secret Service.

Secret Service motorcycles and the Uniformed Division Officers that drive them are active participants in history. One of the unit’s original motorcycles now sits on proud display in the lobby of the Secret Service’s headquarters. This retired motorcycle has a distinguished history, including escorting cabinet members to secure locations during the September 11 attacks. While dedicating the display, Secret Service Director Cheatle described how the motorcycle “evokes pride in the momentous mission we undertake daily.” The motorcade unit and its brave personnel play a crucial role in fulfilling the agency’s mission.

The Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) conducts behavioral threat assessments to support the agency’s protective mission. These assessments aim to prevent attacks by identifying concerning behavior that could forewarn a violent incident. Since NTAC’s establishment in 1990, it has proactively assessed threats to prevent violence, both to Secret Service protectees and the community at large.

In January 2023, NTAC released a report called Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016- 2020, analyzing data on 173 mass attacks in the United States. These attacks impact all segments of society, including businesses, schools, houses of worship, and military bases. The purpose of the report was to provide communities with the tools, training, and resources needed to intervene before violence occurs. “Everyone in the community plays a role in violence prevention,” says NTAC Chief Dr. Lina Alathari.

In the report, NTAC analysts identified key commonalities in the attacks studied. The report found that most attackers had a history of physically aggressive behavior. Even before committing a large-scale attack, most attackers had previously caused friends, relatives, or other acquaintances to fear for their personal safety. In addition, 25% of attackers believed in conspiracy theories or hateful ideologies. Many attackers had also experienced stressful life events or severe mental health crises prior to the attack.

The Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016-2020 report has helped communities take measures to prevent violence. NTAC presented the report findings at two virtual rollout events, drawing a combined 32,278 registrants from 92 countries and all 50 states. Registrants represented a variety of organizations, including other federal government agencies, school districts, and private corporations such as Walmart and Major League Baseball. “Targeted violence is preventable if communities have the right information and resources,” says Dr. Alathari. NTAC will continue providing communities with the tools needed to prevent tragic mass attacks.

Secret Service technical security personnel use advanced technology to support the agency’s mission, from managing the cutting-edge alarms and cameras on the White House complex to protecting against unauthorized drones, dangerous chemicals, and explosives. To fulfill this mission, Secret Service technical personnel must constantly learn about the latest private sector technological developments.

One area of development that the Secret Service has monitored is robotic technology. Robotics and artificial intelligence can increase mobility and effectiveness while minimizing the risk of physical injury. Because robots can operate in environments that are not safely accessible to humans, they can examine a debris field resulting from a natural disaster or assess a chemical leak to measure the level of dangerous gasses. Robots can also enter collapsed or damaged buildings to determine structural integrity or to clear confined spaces. The possible application of robots to perform routine autonomous tasks could potentially reduce dangers to Secret Service personnel.

As part of its research into public safety robotics, the Secret Service explored the capabilities of quadruped robotic technology—more commonly known as robotic dogs. The private sector’s latest robotic dogs can climb stairs, open doors, and move fluidly over rough or uneven terrain. Robotic dogs are equipped with software platforms and use on-board cameras to map the external environment. These cameras feed data into algorithms that enable the robotic dog to perform autonomous tasks, such as picking up an object. Robotic dogs can also carry specialized sensors that detect hazardous materials from a safe distance.

To advance the agency’s ongoing research, a team of specialists—to include engineers, Physical Security Specialists, Technical Security Investigators, and Special Agents—recently traveled to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia to test robotic dog capabilities. The technology has significant potential to enhance the agency’s protective mission. The Secret Service will continue its research on robotic dogs and other emerging technologies to determine the best deployment into its live operations. Through the work of this team and other partners, the agency is prepared to leverage innovative technologies to support its mission.

Malicious actors often post threats and display unusual interest toward Secret Service protectees on social media, open discussion boards, and online chatrooms. Starting in 2019, the Secret Service formed a unit to conduct round-the-clock open-source social media analysis to identify and investigate concerning behaviors. Based on the analysis, the unit shares relevant information with Secret Service leadership and operational personnel to inform investigations and protective activities. Open-source information is an important element in understanding the threat landscape and provides front-line Special Agents and Uniformed Division Officers with the information needed to keep protectees and protected sites safe.

Special Agents and analysts with a wide range of backgrounds all help conduct open-source research. Their work focuses on monitoring publicly available social media accounts to identify potential threats and unwanted outcomes. The Secret Service adheres to strict privacy guidelines and focuses on publicly available information. These efforts require Special Agents and analysts to constantly collaborate with both law enforcement and private sector partners to support the branch’s mission.

As the threat from malicious online actors becomes more complex, the Secret Service continues to expand its capabilities, including more advanced cyber tools. The Secret Service is designing its first Open-Source Intelligence Operations Center, which will be housed in the Secret Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. This Operations Center will incorporate new technology and an updated layout to facilitate information sharing and collaboration. These continual innovations allow the Secret Service to continue countering ever-evolving online threats.

With the digitization of financial payment systems, transnational cyber-enabled financial crimes have grown. Transnational criminal organizations present systemic risks to the American financial system. The Secret Service remains at the forefront of detecting, preventing, and disrupting this type of criminal activity. Secret Service investigations brought many cyber-criminals to justice in FY 2023 and recovered $1.1 billion dollars in cyber financial loss. Additionally, Secret Service investigations also prevented potential fraud loss by arresting individuals before they could fully realize the gains from their crimes.

Fraudulent operations that prey on Americans and take advantage of the U.S. financial system undermine collective trust in our economy. The Secret Service works daily to counter threats ranging from card skimmers, ATM cash out schemes, laundering, business email compromise, and other illicit actions. In a digitally connected world, investigative success, even with respect to more traditional financial crimes, depends on broad and dynamic partnerships with industry, state and local officials, and international law enforcement groups. The Secret Service grows and develops these partnerships to harness the collective expertise of organizations across the world to tackle the challenges inherent to a digital, data-driven economy.

In 1995, the Secret Service established its first electronic crimes task force, modeled after the Secret Service’s existing financial crimes task forces. The agency has since expanded that model to develop a national network of electronic crimes task forces for the purpose of preventing, detecting, and investigating various forms of electronic crimes.

Known as Cyber Fraud Task Forces (CFTF), these groups unite team members from a variety of backgrounds to focus on investigating cyber financial crimes, including emerging trends like the illicit use of cryptocurrency. Many members of state and local law enforcement act as task force officers within the CFTFs after training at the Secret Service’s National Computer Forensic Institute. These task forces are also comprised of Secret Service Special Agents, technical experts, and forensic analysts operating in the CFTF Digital Evidence Forensic Labs.

At present, the Secret Service has operationalized CFTFs in 42 domestic offices. In the coming years, the Secret Service plans to further extend the network of CFTFs across the country and around the globe.

At its inception in 1865, the Secret Service was authorized to combat counterfeiting, which had become a major threat to the economy following the Civil War. Special Agents at the time had a simple method—infiltrate the criminal groups involved in counterfeiting operations and arrest key members of those groups. Shutting down these operations was critical to instilling nationwide trust in the dollar and the American financial system. Today, combatting counterfeit remains a core investigative responsibility, and the ability of our forensics specialists to detect, identify, and trace counterfeiting to its source remains unmatched. However, evolving technologies have led the Secret Service to diversify its methods to effectively investigate counterfeit operations that are facilitated over and aided by digital platforms.