The Secret Service has an embarrassingly long and storied problem with misplacing their firearms, and on Monday the agency revealed that an agent in the Uniformed Division had his gun stolen from his personal vehicle after parking it outside his girlfriend’s condo in Adams Morgan Friday night:
The Secret Service and D.C. Metropolitan Police are now trying to find the thief in an attempt to track down the weapon and prevent it from being used in future crimes, a common problem when agents or officers misplace a gun or have it stolen either from their vehicles or homes.
The agency and police have requested footage from the condo’s cameras that show the perpetrator committing the crime, according to an email sent from Charles Thomas, the general manager of the Saxony Cooperative Apartments, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Thomas told the Examiner that he sent a “privileged email” to other owners and tenants at the cooperative providing information about the stolen Secret Service gun, but declined to comment further on the email’s contents.
The Secret Service issued a statement Monday night saying it takes the incident seriously and will deal with it internally and appropriately.
“The Secret Service is aware of this incident,” the agency said. “The Secret Service takes the care and custody of our equipment, especially firearms, very seriously. This matter will be dealt with internally and in an appropriate manner.”
“Appropriate” seems to be a relative term here, however. In the past, agency employees have reported that Secret Service officials often play favorites when meting out punishment:
In one incident, widely known within the agency, a top Secret Service agent who three sources say served as a regular on President Obama’s protective detail and drove the presidential limousine known as “The Beast” in the 2009 inauguration parade, had his gun stolen out of his work bag he left in the back seat of his car at night.
Two of those sources said the stolen gun was involved in a shooting incident the same night involving the thieves. The agent who had the gun stolen, however, was friends with the right agency officials and was never disciplined for the incident, two sources with first-hand knowledge of the case said.
Instead of being punished, he was promoted through the ranks even though at the time of the theft he was working for the division charged with ensuring that the agency complies with its policies and federal regulations.
Allegedly, Secret Service agents are required to learn how to properly secure their weapons during off-hours. But with at least 22 reported incidents of agents and officers “failing to secure their firearms or having them stolen from their cars or residences” from the fall of 2009 to the fall of 2014, it seems they’re either really unlucky or just really bad at following protocol.
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