Secret Service warned about tired, overworked officers

The Secret Service is disputing claims that agents are suffering from fatigue due to travel and long hours that could "pose an immediate or potential danger" to the officers and people they protect.

The inspector general's office of the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of the Secret Service, stated in an alert made public Thursday that it is "concerned that the Secret Service's staffing and scheduling process does not ensure that officers receive adequate breaks while on duty and time off between shifts." While working on an inquiry this summer into the security of communications at the Secret Service, inspector general investigators found two officers sleeping at their posts. The Secret Service released a statement saying "scheduling and staffing issues were not contributing factors to the misconduct by these officers, nor do they serve as an excuse for their behavior." The Secret Service said it has moved on from the matter, the agents are being disciplined, and the alert "offers neither new information nor value to the Secret Service."

The alert used a 2014 inquiry by the Secret Service's Protective Mission Panel to show that agents at the White House compound are overworked. The inquiry found that officers reported having to work 12-hour shifts 13 days in a row, followed by just one day off, NBC News reports. "The most common refrain that the Panel heard from all sources within the Service...is that the Service is overstretched, with personnel working far too many hours. The result, according to all, is an exhausted work force with low morale." The Secret Service has been rocked by several scandals, with the agency recently having to apologize to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) after dozens of employees had unauthorized access to a job application he submitted years ago.

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