US Secret Service chief quits over security lapses

October 03, 2014 00:00:00

WASHINGTON: Secret Service Director Julia Pierson leaving the hearing room on Capitol Hill here recently after she testified before the House. — Reuters

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (AP): The director of Secret Service abruptly resigned Wednesday in the face of multiple revelations of security breaches, bumbling in her agency and rapidly eroding confidence that President Barack Obama and his family were being kept safe.

Once highly respected for its professionalism, the Secret Service, which protects the president, his family, the vice president and former presidents, has been trying to rehabilitate its image since a 2012 prostitution scandal erupted during a presidential visit to Colombia.