A Secret Service Question

[Mark Rand]

Some might think this belongs in the Dark Champions forum, but, since it concerns my IST San Angelo campaign, I'll post it here.

In my campaign, the Secret Service has three slightly unusual protectees, the First Lady, the First Daughter, and the Vice President's daughter. Who is the greatest challange to protect?

The First Lady is an eye physician and surgeon with her own practice near the George Washington University Medical Center. Like her staff, she wears scrubs. She's in the office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday, she's in surgery.

The First Daughter's a married, insulin-dependent diabetic and a circus aerialist. The show has a small team, a physician, a nurse, and a nurse practitioner, to provide medical care. The Secret Service agents have no control over the show. One agent travels with the show's 24-hour advance agent. Another agent stays as close to the First Daughter as she can and has learned enough about her protectee's rigging to spot any obvious problems with it.

The Vice President's daughte is one of three Vampire Slayers in the campaign area. One of the Vice President's daughter's fellow Slayers was trained by her mother, a dojo owner, as a ninja and wields a katana that was once carried by a Slayer in Japan. Her mother wields the katana thatthat Slayer's Watcher carried. O second Slayer claims to be a Jedi Knight and that her mother, the school nurse, a Jedi Master, trained her. Despite the fact that both women use lightsabers, and the nurse has provided the team with comlinks, the other team members think they're normal metahumans. There are also two Guardian Witches on the team, four Amazon warriors and the Watcher, who is also the nurse's husband.

[freakboy6117]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

ok first wife is fine

no problem there nice and easy especially if you get a medical trained SS agent to assist.

 

the first daughter being an aerialist seems well odd.

circus performance usually runs in families and seems and unlikely occupation for a typical politicians daughter( the uk had a prime minister who was in a circus family but he ran away to become a bank manager!) assuming shes working udner an assumed name/ran away(for love?) is estranged from her father an SS agent would probably have to work undercover.

 

I don't think I can work out who the vice presidents daughter is but as a slayer she's screwed unless her SS agent is a watcher.

[The Hyborian]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

This is off the cuff, but the one that spends her time KILLING FREAKIN' VAMPIRES probably presents the most significant security issues for her secret service detail.

 

Sheesh.

[Kirby]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Interesting. Well, in real life, the Secret Service does provide an agent to protect these people at all times. When Ford was president, the agent who protected his daughter in college usually sat in the dorm's hallway outside her room when she was in there. Some times there were two with her (such as when she went to party). Though when she was in class, it was just one sitting in the back. Unless protocol has changed since Kennedy, there was only one with the First Lady (though two or three switched rotations).

 

The big question is "Is it obvious what they are doing, or is it secret?" If they wear masks, there may have been an understanding that someone with more power than an agent can muster can go on her own when she wants to. If it's obvious that these people are doing it, I'd hazard a guess that a super agent might be needed, if any.

[Victim]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Hmm. With this setup, I'd expect some kind of trick question, so the First Lady is probably the hardest to protect.

 

While the Slayer would be big problem for the Service, she also has the best self defense ability. What normal threat would phase her? Also, if vampires exist, the Secret Service probably has at least some capability against them.

 

The diabetic circus acrobat sounds like a disaster waiting to happen though.

[CBikle]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Do the President's wife and the vice prez's stepdaughter wear white gloves ?

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

A few quick notes.

 

The First Lady was in practice in D.C. for 10-years when her husband became President. All her staff members have been with her for at least two years and had no problem showing the Secret Service agents around the office and going over proceedures with them. They also pointed out that there's always at least one staffer in the exam room when the doctor is there.

 

Holly, the First Daughter joined the circus, as a showgirl, five years before her father became President. Mr. Valdez, her teacher and future father-in-law, was amazed by her ability and taught her all he could. She didn't start learning the human cannonball act until she married into his family.

As far as her diabetis goes, Holly gives herself insulin injections, checks her blood sugar level often, always before a performance, and checks her weight at least six times each day, all under the supervision of the medical team, which has the authority to ground her if something's wrong.

 

The current Vice President has been, as of this writing, only in office for one week, (the former Vice President was Impeached for physically attacking the President at Stargate Command and is now in jail).

Her daughter, on the other hand, has been a Slayer since Willow Rosenberg activated them 18-months ago and spent six months in training with her teammates.

As far as Slaying gear goes, everyone carries fanny packs, created by Willow that are bigger inside than outside. All contain wooden stakes, vials of Holy water, two extra crosses, a crossbow with wooden bolts, a non-magical version of Buffy's scythe, and a sword of the person's choice.

 

The First Lady and the Vice President's daughter do wear white gloves, but only when they're forced to attend some formal affair that they can't get out of.

[Iuz the Evil]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

I have this hilarious image of the VP's daughter confronting her first vampire and suddenly... "PROTECT THE PACKAGE!!!! BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!" Too great.

[Citizen Keen]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

I have this hilarious image of the VP's daughter confronting her first vampire and suddenly... "PROTECT THE PACKAGE!!!! BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!" Too great.

 

That is quite funny.

 

The Secret Service's primary mission is the protection of the US Dollar, as agents of the US Treasury.

 

The secondary mission is the protection of "human assets", which are:

 

By law, the Secret Service is authorized to protect the President, Vice President, President-elect, Vice President-elect, and their immediate family members; former Presidents and their spouses; minor children of a former President until the age of 16; major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, and within 120 days of the general election, their spouses; visiting foreign heads of government or heads of state; and others if authorized by the President. An individual who receives Secret Service protection is referred to as a "protectee." In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the President leaves office.

 

The Secret Service protects the entire First Family at all times. Each member of the First Family has a full team of Secret Service agents - around five active at any one time, in shifts. Plus an advance team scouts future locations. Members of the First Family must maintain a schedule the entire time - if the Bush twins want to go to a dance club next Friday, they have to let the service know so that the service can measure the inherent security risks of the location against the credibility of the current threat levels (the President and his family receive hundreds of threats every day (as did Clinton - this isn't a commentary on Bush). Secret service agents are also trained to blend - just as if the President goes jogging the Secret service agents switch into jogging clothes, the Secret Service assigns younger looking agents to children in college, who also dress like they're in college.

 

So, the First Lady is fine.

 

The circus daughter is relatively impossible. (What's a geek? Someone who criticizes the realism of something like a First President's circus daughter in a campaign with vampires and people who can shoot laser beams out of their eyes.) The SS would never allow a member into a venue like that on a regular basis, placing herself in a position of very high physical risk in addition to an entire crowd focusing on her. But if your group can manage the suspension of disbelief, then she wouldn't be too hard - just say the SS adds about 5 to 10 agents whenever she performs, in addition to the normal 5.

 

The slayer daughter... Iuz summed that one up quite well.

[Battlestaff]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

In 1997' date=' Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the President leaves office.[/i']

I hadn't heard about this. It must not be retroactive. I have direct knowledge that Pres. Carter and Roslynn both still have secret service details, even though he has been out of office for 25 years. And Ford had agents in 1991, after being out of office for a while.

 

As for this situation, can't the family members choose to waive coverage? Is a competent adult family member allowed to choose not to have a protective detail if he or she doesn't want one?

 

Think about the daughter who is a Slayer. As Citizen Keen pointed out, if she has a protective detail, she is going to have to provide a schedule ahead of time, which isn't always possible considering the kind of activities a Slayer is involved in. Also, this is a situation where a "protectee" is intentioinally placing herself into dangerous situations. The agents assigned to protect her would find themselves in constant danger that they may not be trained to handle. This may be a situation where the Secret Service allows the Slayer to waive her detail, though I'm sure they would still provide protection to her at any official state functions she may be required to attend.

 

Oh, and excellent coverage on the issue Citizen Keen.

[Battlestaff]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Do the President's wife and the vice prez's stepdaughter wear white gloves ?

Good, I'm not the only one who noticed this particular....fetish.

 

Do the surgery nurses where the white uniforms?

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Am I right in assuming that Holly, the President's daughter, and Elena, the Vice-President's, can legally refuse protection?

[Citizen Keen]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

I believe the SS is required by law signed by Congress to protect it's "packages". Hit up their site for more info.

[Battlestaff]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Looking at the site is says the Secret Service is authorized to provide protection for the people listed. I didn't see where it said the individiual was required to take it.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Do the surgery nurses where the white uniforms?

No, they wear scrubs.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

I'm dropping the IST San Angelo campaign and switching to an Avengers West Coast campaign with the team based in San Angelo. Jack Ryan is the President, Cathy Ryan, M.D. is the First Lady, Robby Jackson is the Vice President.

In Tom Clancy's books, Cathy works at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. My version of Cathy has her in private practice, near the George Washington University Medical Center, hence, her practice name of Medical Center Eye Ophthomology. She and her staff wear navy-blue scrubs with the practice name in white and will have no problem working with the Secret Service.

Holly is, in this campaign, an addition to the Ryan clan. She told the Secret Service that she'd accept their protection only if they didn't interfere with the operation of the circus. They said that they'd think about it.

The Secret Service knows about Slayers and such and Agent Price-O'Day, who heads the President's detail, keeps the phone numbers of the Washington, D.C. Slayer team and Slayer Central, near the Cleveland Hellmouth, on her speed dial. She's worked with Ellen Jackson before and has found her to be completely professional when dealing with undead creatures. Andrea decided to have an agent with Ellen when she's not patrolling. When she's hunting vamps one agent follows her and her three team members on foor while a second paces them in a car. Both agents wear crosses and carry stakes and comlinks. The agent in the car also has two crossbows and wooden bolts handy, just in case.

[CBikle]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

If I were a character in your game, I'd invest in companies that make white gloves.

 

Does only one company produce the white gloves or are there several ?

 

Do the white gloves come in more than one style ?

[MikeyMitchell]

Re: A Secret Service Question

If I were a character in your game' date=' I'd invest in companies that make white gloves.Does only one company produce the white gloves or are there several ?Do the white gloves come in more than one style ?[/quote']Like Imelda Marcos' shoes?

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

A quick note here. Since the ringmaster refers to Holly as either "Miss Holly" or "Miss Holly Valdez", the general public is not aware that she's the President's daughter.

[Battlestaff]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

A quick note here. Since the ringmaster refers to Holly as either "Miss Holly" or "Miss Holly Valdez"' date=' the general public is [u']not[/u] aware that she's the President's daughter.

During her father's campaign, this information would have been discovered by the press. Especially since her father would have been a public figure for a while (Presidential candidates do not just come out of a void), and a thorough background check of him and his immediate family would have been made. So unless she had no contact with her father, and all record of their relationship were doctored, the press would most likely find out about it.

 

Even if they didn't, someone associated with the circus would most likely have sold her identity out to the press sometime during the campaign. And before you say "they're a circus family, they wouldn't do that to her," it just takes a few minutes and one person she annoyed to reveal this secret.

 

In today's press climate, if she had only started about 5 years ago, the press would have found out and would have reported on it. The only way I could see this being out of the press is if she began doing this before her father became a public figure. And even then, she would receive some mention, even if it was only in passing. The President's daughter is a circus performer? That's something that would be brought up over time.

 

This, of course, does not take into account the fact that the President's political rivals will do a much more extensive background check for any information that could be used than the press would. And they wouldn't have any scruples about leaking the information to the press. And it wouldn't be too hard to find a press outlet that would run the story.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

During her father's campaign, this information would have been discovered by the press. Especially since her father would have been a public figure for a while (Presidential candidates do not just come out of a void), and a thorough background check of him and his immediate family would have been made. So unless she had no contact with her father, and all record of their relationship were doctored, the press would most likely find out about it.

 

Even if they didn't, someone associated with the circus would most likely have sold her identity out to the press sometime during the campaign. And before you say "they're a circus family, they wouldn't do that to her," it just takes a few minutes and one person she annoyed to reveal this secret.

 

In today's press climate, if she had only started about 5 years ago, the press would have found out and would have reported on it. The only way I could see this being out of the press is if she began doing this before her father became a public figure. And even then, she would receive some mention, even if it was only in passing. The President's daughter is a circus performer? That's something that would be brought up over time.

 

This, of course, does not take into account the fact that the President's political rivals will do a much more extensive background check for any information that could be used than the press would. And they wouldn't have any scruples about leaking the information to the press. And it wouldn't be too hard to find a press outlet that would run the story.

Good Point.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

An earlier version of this idea, that could work with James Collingsworth, but not Jack Ryan, is that Holly's father disowned her and removed her from his health insurance policy when she decided to join the circus. (Holly's now on the health insurance policy her mother has through her medical practice.)

 

Given the fact the Battle for LA, at the end of Angel, happened one year after the Slayers were empowered by Willow, it's possible that Ellen was in that Battle. Fanfiction has it that that the public now knows about things that they forgot, many Slayers are famous, their stuff is sometimes up for auction online, that they are now working with the police, and that police internal affairs units are monitoring them. In a superhero world, they also work with superheroes and agencies like PRIMUS and UNTIL and Ellen's father might have traded on his relation to a Slayer to help him in the ellection.

[BlackSword]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

Looking at the site is says the Secret Service is authorized to provide protection for the people listed. I didn't see where it said the individiual was required to take it.

I would be surprised if they can refuse it. I would guess that the reason the entire immediate family is protected so that they cannot be kidnapped and used to blackmail a sitting president. The VP's children may be able to refuse.

 

Doesn't the Buffy-verse have a secret government team which hunts supernatural things? If so then once its revealed that the VP's daughter is a Slayer, the Secret Service woudl recruit someone from that division to work as her SS bodyguard. If you have Stargate as well, then you have people dealing with ET issues daily so its not like they couldn't be transfered as well. With this amalgamation of universes, surely there is someone that is qualified and skilled enough to provide SS protection to a Slayer. I suppose the Enterprise could just stay in geo-synch orbit above her base city and beam her out in case of trouble.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

I would be surprised if they can refuse it. I would guess that the reason the entire immediate family is protected so that they cannot be kidnapped and used to blackmail a sitting president. The VP's children may be able to refuse.

 

Doesn't the Buffy-verse have a secret government team which hunts supernatural things? If so then once its revealed that the VP's daughter is a Slayer, the Secret Service woudl recruit someone from that division to work as her SS bodyguard. If you have Stargate as well, then you have people dealing with ET issues daily so its not like they couldn't be transfered as well. With this amalgamation of universes, surely there is someone that is qualified and skilled enough to provide SS protection to a Slayer. I suppose the Enterprise could just stay in geo-synch orbit above her base city and beam her out in case of trouble.

Good points.

The only Enterprise in the campaign is Boing's single-stage-to-orbit 747-lookalike shuttle. The SGC, if it exists, and Initative could be sources of agents. Of course, Andrea could always ask Buffy to provide Watcher training to some of her agents. Another thought, a federal law enforcement or intelligence agent that finds herself empowered by Willow's spell could serve as a guard for Ellen.

Getting back to Holly for a moment, she is willing to let the agents do what she wants, as long as they don't try to run the circus.

[Mark Rand]

Re: A Secret Service Question

 

A few ideas off the top of my head.

Andrea Price-O'Day hashad a few of the agents in the Secret Service's Protection Division trained as Watchers. A couple are assigned to Ellen's detail.

Holly's detail includes Secret Service agents, officers from the State Police of whatever state the circus is in, and military commandos in plain clothes. One Secret Service agent travels with the 24-hour advance agent, another stays with with Holly when she's not "on stage", and others work undercover as part of the prop crew. The show people knows who they are, but the audience doesn't.