Bureau of Diplomatic Security

Overseas, DS develops and implements security programs to safeguard all personnel who work in every U.S. diplomatic mission around the world and to protect classified information at these locations.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Couriers no longer hand-carried pouches of communications but protected vast amounts of supplies, equipment, and construction materials bound for sensitive overseas posts.

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 .

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.

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.

[citation needed] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[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.

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.

Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) located Derrick Yancey, a former Deputy Sheriff from DeKalb County Georgia, in Punta Gorda, Belize.

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.

[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.

"[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.

[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.

Representatives of the member organizations meet quarterly to tackle specific projects, such as the protection of business information and mitigating the effects from transnational crime.

These highly skilled engineers develop, maintain, and install electrical and mechanical systems such as access and perimeter controls, closed-circuit television, alarms, locks, and x-ray and bomb detection equipment.

Domestically SEO's manage, plan, and provide engineering support to worldwide technical security programs and to the Secretary of State and visiting dignitaries.

Diplomatic Couriers protect information by ensuring the secure movement of classified U.S. Government material across international borders to over 180 Foreign Service missions.