Ex-Secret Service Director: Agency Needs To Be 'More Like Disney World'

[DonViejo]

By CATHERINE THOMPSON Published OCTOBER 2, 2014, 11:26 AM EDT

U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned Wednesday after being hammered by both lawmakers and the press for a series of embarrassing missteps committed by the President's and White House's security detail.

The Washington Post's Carol D. Leonnig, who broke the news that the man who jumped the White House fence last month went far deeper into the building than the agency originally disclosed, offered more insight late Wednesday into Pierson's tenure with the Secret Service:

In the spring, Pierson was irate at what she considered the excessive security measures her team had planned for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, which Obama hosted this summer, demanding that it dismantle extra layers of fencing and reopen closed streets, according to two agency supervisors. Supervisors who had mapped out the security plan said they were taken aback when Pierson, who worked during high school at Walt Disney World as a costumed character and park attendant, said: “We need to be more like Disney World. We need to be more friendly, inviting.”

That "Disney World" mentality also may have contributed to Pierson suggesting that the White House reduce the recommended numbers of officers patrolling the perimeter of the White House complex by a third, as the Post reported.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/julia-pierson-secret-service-disney-world

[Orrex]

1. The Mousekateer ears would be a great addition to the Secret Service uniform.

And long overdue, if you ask me.

[pinboy3niner]

3. Nice try, Cubby

[Nay]

2. Is she a Republican? She sure sounds like one. For example: ignorant

reliance on corporate ways of doing things (how the hell is Disney World's security comparable to Secret Service protection protocols??).

And reducing the manpower around the White House for a black President? Jeeze -- at least keep it the same as all the other Presidents.

She sounds like a wingnut. Anybody know if she is one? Or is she just a stupid corporate clone?

[TwilightGardener]

4. Has anyone ever thought that the Secret Service had a friendliness problem?

Besides this dingbat, that is. The SS is supposed to stop bullets for the First Family, and otherwise protect them wherever they are. Nobody is looking to them for warm public relations.

[RobinA]

5. Having Been To DisneyWorld

and witnessed how they run things, I'd hire them to run any thing any time. It's one of the few places I've been in the past couple decades that was actually run well.

Kinda ironic, really.

[nashville_brook]

6. on this she is correct -- the answer is NOT to close down the street

in front of the WH like some are calling for. the answer is for the SS to do their job effectively.

[philosslayer]

9. I disagree

If closing down the street is whats necessary to adequately protect the President and his family, then close it down. If a twenty high electric fence around the White House is necessary, then build it. We should be taking whatever precautions necessary to protect our President.

[TBF]

7. If you ever want to see tight security run the Disney marathon -

they are about the most unfriendly characters you could ever meet. My family members could get nowhere near to bring me water etc. This was a number of years ago so it may be more friendly now, but I would say those folks would probably do a better job guarding POTUS than the current SS.

[CJCRANE]

8. Her job was security.

Let someone else worry about friendliness.