The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division (USSS UD) is the federal police force of the U.S. Secret Service, similar to the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Supreme Court Police or DHS Federal Protective Service. It is in charge of protecting the physical White House grounds and foreign diplomatic missions in the District of Columbia area.
Established in 1922 as the White House Police, this organization was fully integrated into the Secret Service in 1930. In 1970, the protection of foreign diplomatic missions was added to the force's responsibilities, and its name was changed to the Executive Protective Service. The name United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was adopted in 1977.
In 1970, Phyllis Shantz became the first female officer sworn into the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division, then called the Executive Protective Service. In 1971, the first five official female Special Agents were sworn in - Laurie Anderson, Sue Baker, Kathryn Clark, Holly Hufschmidt, and Phyllis Shantz.
With more than 1,300 officers as of 2010, the Uniformed Division is responsible for security at the White House Complex; the vice president's residence; the Department of the Treasury (as part of the White House Complex); and foreign diplomatic missions in the District of Columbia area. Uniformed Division officers carry out their protective responsibilities through a network of fixed security posts, foot, bicycle, vehicular and motorcycle patrols.
The Uniformed Division has four branches: the White House Branch, the Foreign Missions Branch, the Naval Observatory Branch and the Special Operations Branch. Together they provide protection for the following: the president, vice president, and their immediate families; presidential candidates; the White House Complex; the Vice President's Residence; the main Treasury Department building and its annex facility; and foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Officers are responsible for providing additional support to the Secret Service's protective mission through the following five Special Operations Branch units:
Officers assigned to CS, ERT, and K9, are designated "Technicians" to recognize their advanced training.
The Division also has the following other units:
The Secret Service Uniformed Division's statutory authority is set out in Title 18, ç3056A of the U.S. Code.
Uniformed Division ranks, set out in the salary schedule in Title 5, ç 10203 of the United States Code, are as follows:
Like all other Secret Secret personnel, the standard sidearm for the Uniformed Division is the 9mm Glock 19. Officers are trained on standard shoulder weapons that include the FN P90 submachine gun, the 9mm Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun, and the 12-gauge Remington 870 shotgun. The continued use of the MP5 remains a source of controversy as many other federal agencies have moved away from submachine guns altogether and replaced them with automatic rifles.
As a non-lethal option, Uniformed Division Officers are armed with the ASP 16" expandable baton, and Uniformed Division officers also carry pepper spray and X20-series tasers.
Units assigned to the Special Operations Branch carry a variety of non-standard weapons. The Emergency Response Team (ERT) is issued with the Knight's Armament Company SR-16 CQB rifle chambered in 5.56ÃÂ45mm NATO.
Uniformed Division technicians assigned to the Counter Sniper Team use custom built .300 Winchester Magnum-chambered bolt-action rifles referred to as JARs ("Just Another Rifle"). These rifles use Remington 700 actions in Accuracy International stocks with Schmidt & Bender optics. CS technicians also use the 7.62mm Mk11 Mod 0 semi-automatic sniper rifle with a Trijicon 5.5ÃÂ ACOG optic.