Two Missions, One Secret Service: The Value of the Investigative Mission

摘要

The dual missions of the United States Secret Service, investigations and protection, appear to be without relationship or value to the other, and as a result, support and attention for the investigative mission has waned. This lack of attention to investigations is dangerous for the Secret Service and for the country it serves. To make this argument, this thesis attempts to determine whether the investigative mission is actually important to the successful performance of its protective mission. Through the use of a hybrid research methodology, with quantitative and qualitative aspects, this thesis argues that the types of investigations performed by the Secret Service are not as important as the experiential learning, respite from the hyper- vigilance of protection, and surge capacity provided by the investigative mission. Since the investigative mission supports the protective mission in these three important ways, the Secret Service requires a robust, well-funded and substantial investigative mission to continue to properly provide protection to this nation's leaders.