Number: RL34603
Title: The U.S. Secret Service: An Examination and Analysis of Its Evolving Missions
Authors: Shawn Reese, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: The U.S. Secret Service has two missions - criminal investigations and protection. Criminal investigation activities, which have expanded since its inception as a small anti-counterfeiting operation at the end of the Civil War, now encompass financial crimes, identity theft, counterfeiting, computer fraud, and computer-based attacks on the nation's financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure, among other areas. Protection activities, which have expanded and evolved since the 1890s, include the safety and security of the President, Vice President, their families, and other identified individuals and locations.
Pages: 22
Date: October 14, 2008