WASHINGTON – The Secret Service,whose sniper killed a gunmanwho woundedPresident Donald Trump a year ago, doesn't have enough marksmen and some haven't kept up with mandatory training,according to a watchdog report. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, didn't reveal how many snipers the agency has but said the unit was "chronically understaffed" and 73% below the level needed. Heading into the 2028 presidential campaign, a lack of snipers could lead to injuries and assassinations of top leaders, the report warned. "Failure to appropriately staff (counter-snipers) could limit the Secret Service's ability to properly protect our Nation's most senior leaders, risking injury or assassination, and subsequent national-level harm to the country's sense of safety and security," Cuffari said in his Sept. 2 report. Cuffari recommended the Secret Service develop a strategy to hire more counter-snipers and to ensure that snipers receive the necessary training. The Secret Service agreed with both recommendations. The agency has recommended hiring more counter-snipers since at least 2022. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a written reply to the report that it recognized the importance of having a specialized unit with highly trained, precision marksmen. "The Secret Service remains committed to both adequately staffing this function" and to ensure adequate training, Curran said. The need for Secret Service counter-snipers was reinforced with the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt against Trump, who was then a former president campaigning to return to the White House. A gunman fired eight shots from a rooftop near where Trump was speaking and wounded him in the ear before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed the assailant. The inspector general's report adds tosevere criticism of the agencyfor lapses preparing for the event and responding to it. A shortage in Secret Service staffing has been a common theme in the reviews. Counter-snipers racked up 247,887 hours of overtime from 2020 to 2024, which is the equivalent of 24 full-time employees, the report said. Snipers who didn't meet mandatory requalification requirements were at 47 of 426 or 11% of events that the agency's protectees attended in 2024. The events included Biden appearances at a wake in Dallas, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2024; campaign receptions in New York on Feb. 7, 2024; and remarks in Manchester, New Hampshire on March 11, 2024. Before March 2024, it took almost three years for uniformed Secret Service agent to become a counter-sniper. The minimum time period has dropped six months. Each officer gets 13 weeks of police training and 16 weeks of uniformed training. Agents much now spend 18 months in uniform, down from the previous 24 months, before being eligible to apply to become a counter-sniper. The candidate attends a one-week selection process and a 10-week training program. Mandatory follow up training focuses on making sure the agent is qualified to shoot during daytime and at night. The Secret Service "will need to quickly hire and train substantially more counter snipers to meet growing operational demands and be prepared for the 2028 Presidential election cycle and beyond," Cuffari said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Secret Service needs more snipers to protect leaders: watchdog
