After an alleged DUI incident, the Secret Service is strengthening its policies towards staff drinking and driving. A Secret Service official confirmed that the new regulations prohibit staff from driving government cars for 10 hours after consuming alcoholic beverages.
The new rules come as the Department of Homeland Security and lawmakers investigate the drunk driving incident, which involved two senior Secret Service agents. On the night of March 4th 2015, the agents allegedly drove a government vehicle through a secured area at the White House, the agents nudged aside a barrier while on-duty agents and officers were investigating a suspicious package.
One agent was identified as Mark Connolly, the second in command on President Obama`s protective detail. The other was identified as George Ogilvie, a senior supervisor in the Washington field office. Both agents have been reassigned to desk jobs and stripped of management roles while the Department of Homeland Security investigates the case further.
The new drinking and driving rules were instituted the day before Secret Service director Joseph Clancy stated to the House Committee that “Secret Service employees are responsible for conducting themselves in a manner that reflects the highest standards of the United States Government and must maintain an appropriate state of awareness and mission preparedness.” It states that employees who violate the policy would be “subject to full range of available disciplinary and adverse actions up to and including removal from employment.”
I think this story is an important one because it is an issue of public safety as well as security breaching. Government employees and official should always have a straight mindset no matter what. What if the military were drunk driving vehicles? The employees involved in this case deserved to be removed from their positions and should be more responsible when around work environment, especially government secured facilities. There could of been a threat and just because of this distraction it could have been fatal and would not have ended well.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/secret-service-imposes-tougher-drinking-and-driving-rules/