A U.S. Secret Service agent working near the White House had his gun, badge and a number of other items stolen after he made the decision to leave them in his car. More from CNN:
A Secret Service agent's gun, badge, radio, handcuffs and flash drive were stolen in broad daylight Monday near the agency's headquarters in Washington, according to a police report and sources briefed on the incident.
The agent's belongings were taken from his personal vehicle while it was parked on G Place in downtown Washington around 4 p.m. ET.
A report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department several hours later describes the agent returning to his car and noticing the back rear window of his car had been "unzipped." The report says the agent noticed "a bag with the listed property was taken out of the vehicle."
The report lists a black Sig Sauer handgun, an APX6000 radio, handcuffs, a USB flash drive, a black Patagonia bag and a Secret Service badge, number 1266, as the stolen items.
The CNN story also notes that the USB flashdrive that was stolen has a password and is encrypted...phew.
Over the past few years, the Secret Service has come under heavy Congressional scrutiny after a series of scandals and serious security breaches. Earlier this month the House Oversight Committee published a report titled, United States Secret Service: An Agency in Crisis. The report detailed "serious leadership and staffing concerns, along with new details surrounding employee misconduct and security breach incidents; includes dozens of findings and recommendations to reform the agency." The House is now working on legislation to improve, and hopefully somewhat reform, the agency.
There is a double standard at play here. It should be noted that Washington D.C. concealed carry permit holders (who are very rare), are required to keep their firearm on their body at all time while in the District. The reason? To avoid situations like this one.
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