The Secret Service’s role of protecting the President and Vice President of the United States can certainly be considered its most crucial. Therefore, any threats against our nation’s highest leaders are swiftly and deftly investigated by this federal agency. This was the case in April 2013 when a Mississippi man was charged with making threats against the President. The Secret Service’s Jackson, Mississippi field office worked with a number of federal agencies on the investigation, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
Other recent, notable cases involving the investigative services of the Mississippi Secret Service included:
- April 2013: A Tupelo, Mississippi man was arrested on developing, producing, retaining, and possessing a biological agent (ricin) to be used as a weapon. If convicted, the individual faces life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- February 2012: An Arizona man was sentenced to 400 months in prison for transporting child pornography into Mississippi.
Secret Service Careers in Mississippi: Minimum Requirements for Employment
The road to a career in the Secret Service involves meeting the agency’s minimum qualifications, which involves meeting the education and/or experience requirements defined in the GL-7 federal pay scale level. Specifically, candidates for Secret Service agent jobs in Mississippi must:
- Be between the ages of 21 and 36 at the time of appointment
- Be a United States citizen
- Possess a valid driver’s license
- Have no misdemeanor domestic violence convictions
- Be of excellent physical health, including excellent vision and hearing
Individuals must also meet the education/experience requirements associated with Secret Service agent jobs. Candidates must:
- Possess a bachelor’s degree with a history of superior academic achievement
- Possess at least one year of graduate study
- Possess at least one year of specialized experience at the GL-5 level
Candidates for Secret Service agent jobs in Mississippi at the GL-9 level must:
- Possess a graduate degree (master’s, LLB or JD)
- Possess at least one year of specialized experience at the GL-7 level
Individuals who want to learn how to become Secret Service agents may choose to complete any number of accredited university programs at the bachelor’s or graduate level. For example, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration is designed to prepare students to purse a number of Secret Service career goals through the study of criminal justice and its relation to the law. There are a number of common, core courses in a criminal justice administration program:
- Ethics and Morality in Criminal Justice
- Ethics
- Criminal law
- Police in a democratic society
- Cultural diversity in criminal justice
- Criminal procedures
- Management of criminal justice agencies
- Laws of criminal evidence
- Qualitative/Quantitative research methods
- Judicial process
- Criminology
In addition to the above requirements, candidates for Secret Service agent careers in Mississippi must be prepared to work long hours, travel often and for long periods of time, and relocate to any one of the Secret Service offices throughout the country and even abroad.
Secret Service Training Requirements
Most Secret Service agents in Mississippi can expect to complete a similar course of training and advancement, which includes:
- The completion of 10 weeks of basic training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)
- The completion of 17 weeks of specialized training at the James J. Rowley Training Center
- Receiving an assignment at one of the United States’ field offices
- Working in the investigative division for the first 6 to 8 years
- Working in a protective assignment for the next 3 to 5 years
- Transferring back to a field office or headquarters office or working as a training officer or in another Washington D.C.-based assignment