Secret Service: George H.W. Bush Alarm System Broken For More Than One Year

The Secret Service took more than a year to replace an alarm system at the home of former President George H. W. Bush. The lengthy time frame to fix the Bush alarm system was noted in a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report released on Thursday.

The Washington Post broke the Secret Service George H.W. Bush alarm system information just hours before the scheduled release of the report on Thursday morning. The DHS document reportedly stated that the two decade old alarm system at the George H.W. Bush home in Texas stopped functioning in 2013. According to the Department of Homeland Security report, the Secret Service did not replace the alarm system until late 2014.

During the time the alarm system failed to function properly, an extra Secret Service agent was reportedly added to the security patrols at the George H.W. Bush home to compensate for the safety issue on the property owned by the 41st president of the United States.

Fortunately for the Bush family, there were no known security breaches at the Texas home during the time the Secret Service failed to fix the alarm system. Some Secret Service agents felt that the placing an additional agent on patrol was not sufficient to make up for the failed security alarm system, according to the Washington Post report.

A DHS official told the newspaper that the Secret Service made security systems at protectee homes a “top priority” after Joseph Clancy became the director of the agency last fall. An inspection of all alarm systems was reportedly conducted and upgrades made where necessary. The Department of Homeland Security review also reportedly said that “some” Secret Service agents stated that the security alarm systems at George H.W. Bush’s summer home in Kennebunkport is showing “signs of imminent failure” and is in need of repair

The George H.W. Bush alarm system is not the only recent security system failure involving the Secret Service. Vice President Joe Biden’s home alarm system also reportedly has a “long history of false alarms” and other issues which prompted Secret Service agents to disable the systems “for months at a time.”

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