The United States Secret Service is dealing with another embarrassing incident after a review by the Department of Homeland Security revealed two officers were caught sleeping on the job.
The incident created a security risk to themselves and the people they are assigned to protect, according to the Inspector General for Homeland Security.
Inspector General John Roth issued a “management alert” to Secret Service Director Joe Clancy this week after an audit found two separate instances where agents were caught napping.
“Fatigue from travel, overtime shifts, and long hours contributed to the incidents,” Roth said in the alert. “These issues impact officer safety and the agency’s ability to meet its mission.”
One of the officers told the Homeland Security investigator he had worked nearly 60 hours of overtime in the two weeks prior to the incident. He specifically cited a 36-hour shift involving a trip to Kenya that contributed to him dozing off on the job.
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The Secret Service strongly denied the allegations of overwork.
“Regarding these two incidents, scheduling and staffing issues were not contributing factors to the misconduct by these officers, nor do they serve as an excuse for their behavior,” the agency said in statement. “In both instances, the officers had sufficient days off prior to the incident.”
This is not the first embarrassing episode to face the Secret Service, who is responsible for protecting everyone from President Barack Obama to Republican presidential nominees like Donald Trump.
Nearly two dozen Secret Service agents were disciplined or fired as part of a scandal that involved agents bringing prostitutes into their hotel in Cartagena, Colombia ahead of President Obama’s trip to the Summit of the Americas in April 2012.
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