Security Report says White House Needs New Fence

• By Matt Holden
• Dec 19, 2014

A review released by the Homeland Security Department calls the Secret Service an “insular” agency that needs a new director hired from the outside. The report comes after a man with a knife stormed the White House.

An executive summary of the report concluded that the Secret Service needs more uniformed officers and plain clothes agents, better fencing at the White House and more training for officers.

"The next director will have to make difficult choices, identifying clear priorities for the organization and holding management accountable for any failure to achieve those priorities," said the report. "Only a director from outside the (Secret) Service, removed from organizational traditions and personal relationships, will be able to do the honest top-to-bottom reassessment this will require."

The panel also concluded that training and lack of staffing was also a serious problem for presidential security. The panel recommended hiring at least 85 agents and 200 uniformed officers. They also recommended that uniformed officers should spend at least 10 percent of their time training. Current staffing levels only allowed for about 25 minutes of training in 2013, according to the report.

With regards to the fence, the panel suggested replacing the entire fence and did not recommend an optimal fence design.