Bureau of Diplomatic Security

1916 Badge of the Bureau of Secret Intelligence, today's DSS[4]

The Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service was formally established in 1916 under Secretary of State Robert Lansing. The office was headed by a chief special agent, who also carried the title of special assistant to the secretary and reported directly to the secretary on special matters.

A handful of agents worked out of two locations, Washington, D.C., and New York City, operating on confidential funds from the secretary's office. They conducted sensitive investigations, especially on the operations of foreign agents and their activities in the United States. The Diplomatic Security Service was known as the Bureau of Secret Intelligence at its inception in 1916.[5][6][7] The Bureau of Secret Intelligence was also known as U-1, an off-the-books adjunct to the Division of Information.[8][9] Before the United States entered World War I, German and Austrian spies were conducting operations in New York City. The spies were using forged or stolen identity papers. President Woodrow Wilson authorized the Secretary of State to establish a security arm of the Department of State. Three agents were recruited from the United States Secret Service because of their experience with counterfeit documents. Since the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) had the best laboratory, the director of the new agency was recruited there.

The assumption is that the name "Office of the Chief Special Agent", which was sometimes used in 1916, and to this day by various information portals to include the Department of State's website, to downplay the bureau's original mission.

In 1918, the United States Congress passed legislation requiring passports for Americans traveling abroad and visas for aliens wishing to enter the United States. Shortly thereafter, the Chief Special Agent's office began investigating passport and visa fraud. Special agents also protected distinguished visitors to the United States.

During World War I, the Chief Special Agent's office was given the responsibility for interning and exchanging diplomatic officials of enemy powers and assisting in screening people repatriated from enemy-controlled areas.

The Chief Special Agent began reporting his normal activities to the Assistant Secretary for Administration. However, he still retained his title of Special Assistant to the Secretary and reported directly to the Secretary on sensitive matters.

With the help of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), security at State expanded and increased the depth of personnel investigations. The Chief Special Agent's office was used not only for security work within the State Department but also in several aspects of immigration control and in the control of crime on the high seas.

In the 1930s, it became clear that there were major passport fraud activities worldwide involving both Communists and Nazis. The Chief Special Agent's office, working as the investigative and identification arm of the Passport Office, successfully exposed several of these subversive operations.

With the coming of World War II in the minds of the political leaders of America, they decided it was time to develop a separate branch of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. This new branch would be referred to as the Office of Security, or simply the S.Y. One major addition to the Bureau of Diplomatic Society stemming from the addition of the Office of Security was the development of security staffs on a regional level. The Office of Security was also responsible for starting the use of overseas agents carrying out various tasks to protect the security of the United States.[10] As the threat of terrorist acts against America grew, the SY expanded its role as a part of the United States Department of State.

In many of these cases, the passport aspect was incidental to a much larger problem - Soviet and German espionage networks. Investigation of passport fraud in New York City led to the discovery of a Soviet intelligence network that, in turn, revealed a number of Soviet agents and American Communist Party members engaged in espionage activities. Although a back-door approach, these investigations succeeded in exposing for the first time the existence of such Soviet operations.

With the outbreak of World War II, the office expanded again to manage interning and exchanging diplomatic officials of enemy powers and screening Americans, or those claiming American citizenship, after they were forced to leave occupied territories.

After the war, Secretary of State Edward Stettinius undertook a complete reorganization of the Department that directly affected the Chief Special Agent's office. The Secretary requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) review and make recommendations on physical and personnel security. One important result of that report was the separation of security functions in the Department.

A new security office was set up, separate from the Chief Special Agent's office. This new Office of Security (SY) had a program of regional security staffs in the United States and, for the first time, security officers at missions overseas. Later, security functions were merged and, in 1948, Foreign Correlations (an intelligence service) was incorporated into the office, bringing in that aspect of security. Also in that year, the Marine Security Guard Program was inaugurated at U.S. embassies.

The discovery of a listening device in the Great Seal at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, known as The Thing, was the catalyst for developing countermeasures technology. By the end of the 1950s, hundreds of listening devices planted by foreign intelligence services were found in U.S. embassies. Also during this decade, a special assignments staff was created to investigate possible misconduct and contact with foreign intelligence services by State Department personnel. This staff worked closely with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and FBI Counterintelligence. Reacting to the crisis in electronic surveillance, SY upgraded its technical security program and began hiring engineers. The assignment of Seabee teams to search for listening devices at the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Warsaw led to the Seabee program within the Department.

SY assumed responsibility for the security of Department of State domestic facilities, which included information security, building passes, and the physical security of Department of State facilities.

Beginning in the late 1960s, several ambassadors and Department officials were kidnapped or assassinated. These actions highlighted the possible exploitation of U.S. diplomats for political purposes. To meet this new threat, SY increased its protective capabilities.

The rages of terrorism continued, creating a new and increasingly dangerous threat to U.S. citizens and missions abroad, as well as to distinguished visitors to the United States. SY responded to the emerging threat by hiring over a hundred new agents and purchasing vehicles, radios, and other support equipment.

SY published handbooks on terrorism and provided advice for overseas personnel on traveling safely to and from work and how to make their homes safer. SY began to survey U.S. embassies for vulnerability to attack. Security officers received more intensive training and learned new skills, like defensive driving.

In 1961, according to at least one source, Otto Otepka, then the Director of SY, brought to the attention of the United States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee deficiencies in the State Department clearance process. The allegations were traced all the way up to then-United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Despite multiple awards, appeals from multiple U.S. Senators, and despite having maintained his integrity by not backing down, Secretary Rusk removed Otepka from his position and ultimately fired him.

Today, the Diplomatic Security Counterintelligence Directorate conducts a robust counterintelligence program designed to deter, detect, and neutralize the efforts of foreign intelligence services targeting Department of State personnel, facilities, and diplomatic missions worldwide.

The counterintelligence division conducts aggressive counterintelligence inquires and counterespionage investigations with other U.S. Government agencies. All counterespionage investigations are conducted in close coordination with the FBI in accordance with their statutory mandate to prosecute instances or allegations of suspected espionage. The division conducts numerous counterintelligence and security awareness training programs for all U.S. Government personnel requesting or having access to sensitive Department of State facilities and information. All training programs enhance the understanding of both foreign intelligence and espionage threats and countermeasures, and educate employees on the foreign intelligence environment.

In addition, the office relies on a cadre of security engineers to deter, detect, and neutralize attempts by foreign intelligence services to technically penetrate Department of State office buildings and residences. These efforts range from detecting a simple listening device in the wall to countering the most sophisticated electronic eavesdropping devices and systems.[11]

The intensity of terrorist attacks against Americans increased. In the period between 1979 and 1983, there were over 300 attacks; in 1984 alone, there were over 100 attacks. In 1984, Secretary of State George Shultz formed an advisory panel to study make recommendations on minimizing the probability of terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens and facilities.

Headed by retired Admiral Bobby Inman, this commission was known as the Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, or the Inman Panel. The panel examined the Department's security programs and, in a report published in June 1985, made its recommendations to the Secretary.

On November 4, 1985, the U.S. Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) and the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) were officially established. Today the Bureau of Diplomatic Security has approximately 34,000 employees; 1,800 of whom are the Federal Agents within the Diplomatic Security Service.

DS Organizational Chart

The Inman Panel's recommendations received strong support from Congress, and on August 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed H.R. 4151, the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986, which codified the recommendations of the Inman panel.[12] The new Bureau had a clearly defined mandate outlined in legislation and structured along the lines of other Federal law enforcement, security, and intelligence agencies.

The Diplomatic Courier Service joined the new Bureau at this time. Couriers no longer hand-carried pouches of communications but protected vast amounts of supplies, equipment, and construction materials bound for sensitive overseas posts.

By the end of the 1980s, DS began sharing information with the American business community operating abroad, through the Overseas Security Advisory Council, which itself expanded to include all members of the U.S. private sector, including non-governmental organizations, religious groups, academic organizations, and associations. Also, the Bureau expanded to provide state-of-the-art security to the Department's communications and information systems.

The security improvements developed and implemented during the 1980s helped Americans withstand the heightened threat in the next decade.

The DS Rewards for Justice Program was initiated in 1992. Since then, more than $49 million has been paid for information that prevented or resolved acts of international terrorism against Americans. Information received through this program has resulted in the capture of several terrorists, including Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Although the FBI received the credit, DSS agents actually found and arrested Yousef, the architect of the bombing. Special Agents Bill Miller and Jeff Riner were given a tip by an associate of Ramzi Yousef about his location. They contacted local officials and arrested Yousef.

DS continues to conduct criminal and personnel security investigations critical to the protection of American borders and the national security of the United States. Special agents investigate more than 3,500 passport and visa fraud violations each year. DS receives about 3,000 requests for overseas investigative assistance from U.S. law enforcement agencies annually and has achieved notable success in locating and apprehending wanted fugitives who have fled the United States .

DS also provides protective services to distinguished dignitaries visiting the United States, as well as 24-hour protection to the Secretary of State.

Following the August 7, 1998, terrorist bombings of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, the State Department declared the protection of American personnel and facilities overseas a top priority. Congress passed a $1.4 billion Emergency Embassy Security Supplemental (of which DS received about $588 million) enabling the Bureau of make significant improvements at every U.S. diplomatic mission overseas. Since the bombings, the State Department has spent billions of dollars to improve systems and facilities and increase security staffing to protect personnel and dependents around the world.

As overseas security requirements increased, so did the demands on the Diplomatic Courier Service. Couriers now transport more than 115,000 classified and sensitive materials overseas every year.[13]

Security engineering officers (SEOs) continue to design and manage security equipment programs at all posts, which are vital to the protection of our people and facilities abroad. SEOs also work to detect and prevent the loss of sensitive information from technical espionage, a continuing challenge in light of rapidly changing technology in detection equipment, computer systems, intrusion detection systems, and access control equipment.

While focused on improving security at U.S. missions abroad, several highly publicized incidents at the State Department firmly emphasized the need to strengthen domestic security as well. In addition to taking additional security measures at the State Department, the Assistant Secretary for DS convened a panel of security experts from the FBI, CIA, Department of Defense, U.S. Secret Service, and DS to review all domestic security policies, programs, and procedures. The panel made recommendations concerning access control, physical and technical security, security awareness for employees, restriction of traffic around the building, creation of a chemical/biological program, and additional resources for security. The majority of these recommendations were implemented. The Department continues its efforts to enhance its domestic security program.

Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, DS has played an active role in the global "war on terrorism". With more than 480 special agents assigned to diplomatic missions in 157 countries, DS is the most widely represented American security and law enforcement organization around the world.

The Antiterrorism Assistance Program, provides terrorism-focused police training to civilian security personnel from friendly governments. More than 31,000 students from 127 countries have received ATA training in the last 20 years. These students return to their countries better prepared to fight terrorism and protect Americans overseas during a crisis. In 2017, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported on weaknesses in Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program data and oversight of participants, including those trained in the United States.[14]

It is a felony to apply or assist someone in applying for a U.S. passport or visa when they are not entitled to one. Usually this means an alien in the United States trying to establish a false identity or stealing the identity from an American, often one who has died. Sometimes Americans, including Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) are the target of DSS investigations, such as an FSO selling visas for personal gain. DSS also investigates other alleged improper or illegal behavior by Department of State personnel, to include incidents of espionage. Such cases would involve other agencies such as the Department of Justice. Overseas, DSS must take the role of local and state law enforcement when investigating issues such as spousal or child abuse by U.S. government personnel assigned to the embassy. This is because the host country will not investigate or prosecute diplomats, who are considered to have immunity from their laws. DSS also conducts tens of thousands of background investigations per year - not just for the Department of State, but also for other federal agencies.

In recent years, DSS has expanded its overseas investigations program with A/RSO-I's (Assistant Regional Security Officer-Investigators) also known as "Overseas Criminal Investigators". These agents are given special training in consular functions, and are commissioned consular officers. However, they spend a large amount of their time working with the fraud units in consular sections, investigating visa and passport fraud, alien smuggling and human trafficking, although they have responsibilities outside of their respective Consular assignments for mission security. They work closely with host country law enforcement agencies, and have recently been instrumental in dismantling several large alien smuggling rings. Where there exists an identifiable nexus to the United States, DSS coordinates their alien smuggling investigations with the resident or regional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attache.

The Diplomatic Security Service Office of Investigations and Counterintelligence (DS/ICI/CI) conducts a robust counterintelligence program designed to deter, detect, and neutralize the efforts of foreign intelligence services targeting Department of State personnel, facilities, and diplomatic missions worldwide.

The office's counterintelligence division conducts aggressive counterintelligence inquires and counterespionage investigations with other U.S. Government agencies. Counterespionage investigations are conducted in close coordination with the FBI in accordance with their legal mandates.

The division conducts numerous counterintelligence and security awareness training programs for all U.S. Government personnel requesting or having access to sensitive Department of State facilities and information. All training programs enhance the understanding of both foreign intelligence and espionage threats and countermeasures, and educate employees on the foreign intelligence environment.

In addition, the office relies on a cadre of security engineers to deter, detect, and neutralize attempts by foreign intelligence services to technically penetrate U.S. office buildings and residences. These efforts range from detecting a simple listening device in the wall to countering the most sophisticated electronic eavesdropping devices and systems.[11]

On June 4, 2009, the DSS and the FBI arrested former Department of State employee Walter Kendall Myers on charges of serving as an illegal agent of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. Mr. Myers’ arrest is the culmination of a three-year joint DSS/FBI investigation.[15][16][17][18][19][20]

The Diplomatic Security Service maintains agents in dozens of Joint Terrorism Task Force operations around the country. The Office of Protective Intelligence and Investigations in the Threat Intelligence and Analysis division has DSS Special Agents who travel all over the world investigating threats to the Secretary of State and U.S. embassies and consulates. DSS Special Agents on the New York JTTF provided critical information in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and DSS Agents assigned as Regional Security Officers around the world tracked down leads for the FBI and other federal agencies. Any time there is a threat or an attack against a U.S. embassy or consulate, DSS Special Agents are the first on the scene to investigate.

Robert A. Hartung, Assistant Director, of Diplomatic Security's Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate, announced on September 2, 2010 that the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering rewards of up to $5 million each for information that leads law enforcement or security forces to Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali ur Rehman.[21][22][23]

The Diplomatic Security Service investigates crimes against State Department personnel and other U.S. Government personnel and families assigned under Chief of Mission authority at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. DSS Special Agents have investigated thefts, assaults, rapes, and murders, among other charges, around the world. Unlike investigations conducted in the United States by other federal agencies, DSS Agents have to work jointly with their foreign counterparts in often hostile areas of the world.

On January 28, 2009, a news story broke about a CIA station chief in Algiers, Algeria who was under investigation by DSS for having allegedly raped two Muslim women.[24][25]

USMS and DSS team

Because the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service is one of the most widely represented law enforcement organizations in the world, its capability to track and capture fugitives who have fled U.S. jurisdiction to avoid prosecution is often considered unmatched. During 2009, DSS assisted in the resolution of 136 international fugitive cases from around the globe.[26]

In 1995, DSS Special Agents Jeff Riner and Bill Miller, the RSOs assigned to the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, were present with Pakistani police and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) when they arrested Ahmed Ramzi Yousef, who was wanted in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. Despite FBI press releases, it was not the FBI who captured Yousef but the ISI and DSS.

DSS Special Agents located and returned Jared Ravin Yaffe from Brazil. Yaffe, wanted in California for multiple counts of alleged child sexual assault, kidnapping, and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, was returned to the United States on May 12, 2009, to face trial. On February 11, 2009, the United States District Court, Southern District of California issued a federal arrest warrant for Yaffe for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Yaffe was profiled on the television show America's Most Wanted on April 11, 2009.[27]

On September 19, 2009, Special Agents from the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) located Derrick Yancey, a former Deputy Sheriff from DeKalb County Georgia, in Punta Gorda, Belize. Yancey was wanted in Georgia for double murder of his wife Linda Yancey and a day laborer. Upon arrival at a local bar, at 6:05 PM local time, a DSS agent tapped on Yancey's shoulder and told him "It is time to go." Belize authorities then arrested Yancey. Yancey was featured on America's Most Wanted.

On November 23, 2009, DSS Special Agents from the U.S. embassy’s Regional Security Office (RSO) worked closely with the U.S. Marshals Service, Guatemalan National Police, and INTERPOL to locate alleged murder suspect 24-year-old Ariel Beau Patrick, who was taken into custody in Guatemala. Ariel Patrick was featured on America's Most Wanted.[28]

AMW - America's Most Wanted featured the capture of Robert Snyder in Belize - DSS Special Agent (RSO) Rob Kelty interviewed by John Walsh - Segment aired on February 27, 2010 on AMW.

On April 26, 2010, after failing to check in with pretrial services within two days of his April 21 hearing on his bond status, Andrew Warren, 42, was apprehended by a combined team of Norfolk Police Department Fugitive Investigators, DSS Special Agents and U.S. Marshals. Judge Ellen S. Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the former CIA officer.[29][30]

On July 30, 2010, special agents from the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) located fugitive George Alvin Viste in Peru. Viste is wanted in Clark County, Washington on seven different criminal charges including the rape of a child, child molestation, and incest. "Diplomatic Security’s Regional Security Office in Lima worked closely with the U.S. Marshals Service and our law enforcement counterparts in Peru to locate Viste,” said Jeffrey W. Culver, Director of the Diplomatic Security Service."[31][32][33]

On October 8, 2010, Special Agents from the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) located Dario Sarimiento Tomas in Pampanga, Philippines. DSS worked with Philippine officials to apprehend Tomas, who is wanted in South Korea on charges that he defrauded an individual there of more than $200,000. Tomas was arrested by law enforcement officials from the Philippine National Bureau of Investigations and National Police. Tomas was assigned to the U.S. embassy in Seoul as a Customs and Border Protection Officer.[34]

On January 12, 2011, Special agents from the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) have located and helped return California fugitive John Pope from Mexico. Pope, formerly of San Francisco, was taken into custody by Mexican authorities in La Paz, Mexico on January 12 and returned to the United States on January 18, 2011 to face trial. John Pope has been wanted by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office since October 20, 1998, in connection with allegations of fraud concerning embezzlement of $1,000,000 from the estate of a deceased San Francisco businessman.

February 3, 2011 - Paul Eischeid, a fugitive, and member of the Hells Angels who had eluded U.S. Marshals for nearly eight years—is finally in handcuffs. U.S. Marshals tell AMW that the accused murderer was taken down in Buenos Aires on Feb. 3, 2011. Authorities say an Interpol Red Notice, as well as investigations by the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service in Argentina led to the elusive fugitive's capture.[35]

Budget

The fiscal 2019 budget plan saw an 11% cut to overall diplomatic security in fiscal year 2020, with 18% specifically cut from embassy security, construction, and maintenance.[36]