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Secret Service stretched thin, needs more agents, report says

Members of the Secret Service’s uniformed division conferred Thursday near the West Wing of the White House.JABIN BOTSFORD/THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — An independent panel on Thursday recommended sweeping changes at the Secret Service, saying the elite protective agency is ‘‘starved for leadership’’ and calling for an outsider as director, hundreds of new agents and officers, and a higher fence around the White House.

The panel, created in October after a series of highly publicized security failures, said the fence protecting the executive mansion should be raised by at least 4 feet to make it less vulnerable to jumpers. Panel members were reacting to a Sept. 19 incident in which a man scaled the fence and ran far into the White House through an unlocked door.

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The four-person body also urged expanded, intensified training for agents, saying they should run crisis response scenarios that possibly use a mock White House. The report especially targeted the Secret Service’s highly insular culture, calling for new leadership from outside to shake up the agency, a suggestion sure to rankle some in the service’s old guard.

“The problems exposed by recent events go deeper than a new fence can fix,’’ said its executive summary, the only part publicly released. ‘‘We believe that at this time in the agency’s history, the need for Service experience is outweighed by what the Service needs today: dynamic leadership that can move the Service forward into a new era and drive change in the organization.’’

The sharply worded document comes after a cascade of security and other problems, including the agency’s fumbling response in November 2011 when a man fired a semiautomatic rifle at the White House residence while one of the president’s daughters was home.

Director Julia Pierson was called to Capitol Hill to answer questions about what some lawmakers called the multiple ‘‘Keystone Cops’’ failures of the once highly regarded agency. She resigned the following day, amid reports of yet another major security lapse — an armed private security guard was allowed onto an elevator with President Obama in September.

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Joseph Clancy, the former head of Obama’s security detail, was called out of retirement to be interim director of the storied agency, which was created in 1865 to combat counterfeiters during the Civil War.

A House committee will launch a broader, bipartisan investigation into the Secret Service’s operations in the coming year, and there is widespread debate in Congress over whether the Department of Homeland Security has provided proper leadership of the agency; it was placed inside the department after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

‘‘A serious and robust investigation must include cooperation on both sides of the aisle in order to root out systemic problems and implement proper reforms,’’ Representatives Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, and Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, said of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee probe they are planning to launch into the Secret Service.

It also remains unclear how many of the reforms suggested Thursday by the panel will be implemented. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who created the body, said they will be ‘‘carefully considered,’’ while noting many recommendations cannot be publicly released because they are classified.

“Some of the panel’s recommendations are similar to others made in past agency reviews, many of which were never implemented. This time must be different,’’ he said. ‘‘The Secret Service itself must commit to change.’’

The report was the latest embarrassment for an agency that has been under fire after a run of embarrassing incidents dating to a 2012 prostitution scandal on a trip to Colombia in advance of a presidential visit.

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While the Secret Service is best known for the special agents with their dark sunglasses and earpieces who guard the president and other national leaders, it also has other roles. Uniformed Secret Service officers protect the White House compound, the Naval Observatory, and dozens of foreign embassies and missions in the city.

The service also investigates counterfeiting and other financial crimes.

Other recommendations included adding 85 Secret Service agents to the presidential protection division and 200 uniformed officers to the current staff securing the White House and other facilities; dedicating a set amount of funding each year to research cutting-edge protection technology; and having leaders hold staff accountable for not meeting goals.

The panel also noted that some of its physical security recommendations dated to suggestions made by the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President John Kennedy, along with more recent reviews of the service.

RELATED:

11/13: Secret Service blunders eased way for White House intruder

9/21: Security reviewed after fence-jumper enters White House

9/24: Study found White House was open to fence-jumpers