Diplomatic Security Service - Protection Mission

Protection Mission

DSS is the agency identified to accept high threat protection assignments around the globe. The largest permanent dignitary protection detail carried out by DSS agents is on the Secretary of State. DSS also has an ongoing protection detail on the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

Most all other 'details' are on visiting foreign dignitaries and diplomats, and are on a temporary basis for the duration of a dignitary's visit. Foreign Ministers from important nations, as well as those with threats, are typically covered by DSS.

DSS has the authority to provide protection for Foreign Heads of State, and did so through the early 1970s. At that time there was an order signed by President Richard Nixon also giving this authority to the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), which has protected heads of state ever since. The appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State raised the question of whether and when the Secret Service or DSS would provide protection. As former First Lady Clinton receives Secret Service protection, as does her husband, who would, presumably, occasionally accompany her on official trips. However, DSS has been named the lead agency to carry out the protection for Mrs. Clinton.

DSS Special Agents protect such dignitaries as Prince Charles, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry of Wales, the 14th Dalai Lama, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and has protected Princess Diana, Yasser Arafat, Zalmay Khalilzad and Boris Yeltsin (in the days preceding the dissolution of the Soviet Union).

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security's Office of Foreign Missions is responsible for the protection of foreign embassies and consulates on U.S. soil. Since the DSS does not have a true uniformed force with police powers, other agencies or local police departments are reimbursed for providing this service. Two notable examples of this are the Secret Service Uniformed Division in Washington, DC and the New York City Police Department in New York City.

During the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, DSS, as well as the USSS, protects many dozens of varied dignitaries, mostly in New York City. DSS may also provide protection to others as assigned, including foreign persons without any government status, but who might have a threat against them. DSS also protects certain U.S. Ambassadors overseas. Currently, the protection detail for the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, James Franklin Jeffrey, is one of the largest critical threat protection details in the history of DSS. Currently the U.S. Ambassadors to Colombia, China, Israel, Egypt, and Jordan all receive large amounts of protection from the DSS.

DSS has also protected or does protect the Presidents of Afghanistan, Haiti and Liberia. What makes these 'details' unique is that the protection, done by U.S. federal agents - DSS, is carried out overseas, in the protected person's home country.