They seem like over glorified body guards. Is their job considered prestigious for people in law enforcement? How is it viewed among the general population?

20 comments

  1. In a manner of speaking, yes. They aren’t just glorified bodyguards, they’re the best bodyguards with the best equipment *in the world* for that job.

    Also, they have a significant investigative arm. Not just regarding threats to their protectees, but also pursuing those counterfeiting US Currency is among their duties.

  2. Perception wise, yes

    What most Americans think of as the secret service, the guys that protect the president, they would consider a prestigious law enforcement job. It is much harder to get than the local police and their job is objectively cooler. They are in the same league as CIA and FBI

    However, it’s worth noting that the secret service does more than just protect the president. They protect other government officials such as political candidates, certain congressmen, and foreign diplomats. They are also responsible for tracking down and enforcing counterfeit currency crimes. If you are printing your own illegal money, the secret service are the guys who are most likely after you. The service is much bigger than just a team that protects the president, and like any other agency they have a lot of resourceful guys doing jobs that may seem pretty mundane on paper.

  3. I don’t think many people would name the secret service if you asked them to name the first prestigious job that comes to mind, but I think most people would consider it prestigious, yes.

  4. They are guarding the embodiment(s) of the American State, if anything they’re underrated

  5. I’m interested to know what job a person might do that would make them comfortable describing people protecting elected officials that a lot of people *really* want to harm as “over glorified.”

  6. The Secret Service is a bit like special forces and high level political and international relations and law enforcement combined into a weird and its own unique thing.,They are highly trained professional drivers, paramedics, law enforcement, snipers and sharp shooters, and fighters who have top their security clearances and undergo a long process of invasive financial, criminal, and physiological checks to get the job. They are heavily armed ~~and also carry the nuclear launch codes.~~ They actually started as a division working on busting counterfeit money and only a section of it guards the or president.

    Edited after I learned I was wrong about the launch codes.

  9. I would consider the rankings to be this.

    Mall cop/security guard

    Bouncer

    Bodyguard/law enforcement – there’s a wide range here w/ both these positions.

    Government agent

    Secret Service

  11. No, I don’t think most of the public really thinks about the job. Maybe the Hollywoodization of the job (clean cut, talk into a headset, take a bullet for the president, etc.) gives an impression that the job is cooler than it really is – but, no it’s not prestigious.

    The agency is always hiring, so getting an interview and tentative offer with the agency isn’t very competitive. The trouble is that you have to have a Top Secret Clearance for almost every position, so that means having a relatively squeaky clean background and the ability to pass a polygraph test. Read up on /r/securityclearance to see what kind of bullshit that whole process can be, even when the postings are just for Public Trust positions.

    “Officer” agent positions starting pay is pretty shit compared to a lot of metro LEOs when you factor in overtime/bonuses – but you do get federal benefits (pension, healthcare, PTO, etc.) And it’s a lot of standing around, traveling, and old boys club. I’ve got a classmate that joined the Secret Service almost right out of high school, and he’s not someone I’d call athletic or intelligent – but he is someone I’d tell you is the son of a father who’s also in the secret service!

    And the USSS does a lot more than just surrounding the President. They also handle a lot of DHS’ investigations into laundering, cybercrime, identity theft, IP crimes, and missing/exploited children. So while it’s not Hollywood-glamorous, for someone interested in criminology, it’s a very good agency to work for.

    Other positions, like investigator/specialist, can put you on a fast-track to GS-13 ($100k+), or analyst/accountant positions, which can put you at GS-15 ($140k+). Like working for most federal agencies – including the FBI or CIA – most of the jobs are not glamorous out in the field tackling bad guys. It’s unglamorous sitting behind a desk, writing reports, dealing with red-tape and falling your way up the career ladder with a nice pension and stable job security.

  12. They are considered one of the tops tier federal law enforcement agencies, but from everything I’ve heard from former employees, it’s one of the worst agencies to work for in the federal government.

  13. We probably don’t think about them a lot but the job is considered exclusive. People hired should be the cream of the crop of their jobs. But generally people don’t aspire to be in the secret service.

  14. Among the general public, it’s considered this really niche job where you’d take a bullet for the president and you’ve probably had a lot of training.

    I dunno, though, every time I’ve met anyone affiliated with the Secret Service they’ve been weird and kind of dumb. Last one was some retired agent grandpa in my neighborhood park who wanted to rant at me about conspiracy shit while we pushed kids on the swings.

  15. Worked with the Secret Service on a regular basis while I worked at the airport. In my experience they were generally pretty poor. The agents I worked with were by and large lazy when it came to actually doing their job. Vast majority were young guys, early-mid 20s, first job out of college types. It seemed to me that the majority of the job was keeping up the appearance of security rather than actually providing it. Atlanta PD and GSP were the real heavy lifters.

    My favorite memory of my interactions with them was prior to the Korean President visiting Atlanta in 2021. They pulled all of us out, said they were going to do a sweep of the building and of us. Had a guy with a metal detector wand, he’d gotten through about half of us when I’m guessing his supervisor came up, realized the wand had never been turned on. Called him a dumbass and just let the rest of us (probably about 25 people) in without scanning us.

    Now foreign secret service types I would not fuck with. The Koreans ran a very tight ship, inspection after inspection after inspection prior to arrival, probably 2 or 3 dozen meetings, planning, briefing all of us. They were excellent. Poles were similarly excellent (and huge, smallest guy was probably 6’3) but were also very chill with us after their President had left.

    My experiences are only with the Atlanta Field Office and I’d imagine the office in DC would be much better run.

  16. Definitely viewed more pretentiously than regular law enforcement, esp. here. They are body guards, but not overly glorified, they are definitely the most capable body guards the country has to offer.

  18. I don’t think for older generations who lived through assassinations and attempts, up through Reagan, there is a mystique of them being American samurai because they will dive in front of a bullet.

  19. They’re well-known and sure I think the average American would consider the job of protecting the president to be pretigious.

    But they have a list of scandals a mile long and that’s just what they’ve actually gotten caught for. Seemingly every year there’s an incident with secret service agents getting into trouble in foreign countries. And it usually involves alcohol, drugs, and hookers.

    So personally I think a sizeable chunk of secret service agents are fuck ups.

  20. very prestigious, on par with the Swiss Guard at the Vatican

    watch a movie…To Live and Die in L.A. with William Petersen

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