Washington: After a number of security breaches at the White House last year, the Secret Service is in for a major overhaul.
According to reports, four senior Secret Service officials will be reassigned as part of the continuing shake-up. This comes after a scathing review by the Department of homeland in December of the organisation and its shortcomings.
Interim Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy confirmed the re-organization on Wednesday saying he would be implementing leadership changes in the Secret Service management team. The written statement further said, “Change is necessary to gain a fresh perspective on how we conduct business. I am certain any of our senior executives will be productive and valued assets either in other positions at the Secret Service or the department.”
The special panel established by the Department of Homeland Security found an organisation “starved for leadership.” It also urged the construction of a taller perimeter White House fence as “crucial” to the protection of the president and his family.
The panel also said its most important recommendation would be that, “a new director start with a zero-based budget.â€
Clancy, who formerly directed the agency’s presidential protective division, was called out of retirement last fall by President Obama to help stabilize the agency. The special investigative panel’s report has recommended that the next permanent director of the agency be selected from outside its ranks.
“Only a director from outside the service, removed from organizational traditions and personal relationships, will be able to do the honest top-to-bottom reassessment this will require,” the panel concluded last month.