MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Director of the US Secret Service Joseph P. Clancy in a testimony before members of Congress on Tuesday will ask lawmakers to allocate $8 million to build a White House replica for agent training.
“The Secret Service currently uses a rudimentary, not-to-scale simulation of the north grounds of the White House, using bike barricades to act as the fencing,” Mr. Clancy said during a House Appropriations Committee hearing, according to remarks obtained by the New York Times.
According to Clancy, in order to guarantee the president’s protection agents need a “more realistic environment, conducive to scenario-based training exercises.”
Concerns over White House security escalated after an intruder jumped a fence and managed to get into the East Room of the White House before being stopped in September 2014.
Officers found ammunition and a machete in his car, and a review of the case by the Secret Service found multiple protocol failures which led to then-Secret Service Director Julia Pierson's resignation.
