The Way We Worked: On Watch at the White House
The origins of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service date to 1922.
Sgts. Laurie Rich, left, and Sherrine Freeman of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service provide protection at the White House in 1987.
Washington, DC—the nation’s capital—has a number of police forces, including the U.S. Park Police, the Uniformed Secret Service, Federal Protective Service, U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department. Each unit has a distinctive uniform, but are all easily identifiable as police. The White House Police Force, which was formed in 1922, became part of the Secret Service in 1930. It was renamed the Executive Protective Service in 1970, and in 1977 it became the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service, which it remains today.
Did You Know?
Roughly 7,000 people work for the Secret Service, including 1,300 Uniformed Division officers. In addition to protecting the President and Vice President, their families and other leaders, the Secret Service investigates financial crimes, including the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, credit card fraud, computer fraud and identify fraud. Visit www.secretservice.gov/
About the Society for History in the Federal Government
This photo is from the Records of National Archives, courtesy of the National Archives History Office, in collaboration with the Society for History in the Federal Government (SHFG), bringing together government professionals, academics, consultants, students and citizens interested in understanding federal history work and the historical development of the federal government. To join, visit www.shfg.org.
The Way We Worked celebrates the past 100 years of public service through archival images. Eargo and GEHA are proud sponsors of NARFE’s Centennial.
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