EXCLUSIVE — The Paris Olympic Games have ended successfully. French security forces and their foreign partners performed admirably in protecting athletes and visitors.
However, had armed terrorists launched an attack on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams, there wouldn't have been much that the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agents assigned to protect those teams could have done about it. Three sources with direct knowledge told the Washington Examiner that the DSS failed to secure firearms carry authorization in Paris. As one source put it, "All they carry are their radios." For security reasons, the Washington Examiner withheld its reporting until the Games concluded.
The unarmed status of DSS agents in Paris stands in contrast to that of the New York City Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office officers in Paris. Police officers from around the world supported French security efforts during the Games. The Los Angeles Times first reported on the LAPD's authorization to carry firearms. Publicly available photos show NYPD officers carrying their firearms. The LA County Sheriff's Office confirmed to the Washington Examiner that its deputies were authorized to carry their firearms.
The State Department refused to comment specifically on the firearms concern.
"For security reasons, we do not discuss the details of our protective operations," an official told the Washington Examiner. "We refer you to French officials for information on security operations during the Olympic Games."
French officials were unwilling to talk to the Washington Examiner on the record.
The State Department's law enforcement arm, the DSS investigates crimes such as passport fraud and visa fraud. But the DSS's primary mission is protective security. The DSS protects the secretary of state, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. diplomats and embassies, visiting foreign government officials below the rank of head of state, and certain other Americans abroad. That include U.S. sports teams competing in major international tournaments. No such team is more high profile than Team USA at the Summer Olympics.
So why was a firearms authorization rejected?
It's unclear. One source told the Washington Examiner that the International Olympic Committee refused the firearms request but that French authorities were otherwise open to it. The DSS certainly has a longstanding relationship with French security agencies, and a regional security officer is stationed in Paris to supervise embassy security and liaise with French counterparts. The DSS spent years preparing for the Paris Olympics, even hosting French officials toward that effort. And while France has legal-political protocols that foreign security agencies must navigate to secure firearms carry authorizations, the DSS should have been able to do so.
Alternatively, reciprocity concerns might be involved. Federal law provides for friendly nation law enforcement officers to carry firearms on official duties in the United States. France's GSPR presidential protective unit does so, for example. It's possible, however, that the French refusal to allow the DSS firearms carry at the Olympics may have resulted from prior refusals by the State Department of French diplomatic protective detail firearms requests.
Yet the DSS's failure here is significant. Firearms afford DSS agents maximal potential to confront imminent, lethal threats to life. Unlike their local U.S. law enforcement colleagues who served in Paris, DSS agents have extensive close protection training. But their lack of firearms represents a undeniable limitation. That the DSS was unable to secure firearms authorization adds to pressure on the agency over indications of mismanagement and poor resource allocation . The Washington Examiner is working on a number of other stories related to the DSS.
True, security around athletes has been significantly strengthened since the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. But it's equally true that Team USA offers a highly prized target for foreign terrorist organizations. And while French authorities deployed significant resources to protect America's athletes, DSS agents assigned to Team USA have a physical, language, and cultural proximity that maximizes their protective effectiveness.
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In short, the DSS's failure to win firearms carry approval at the Olympics wasn't an issue. But only because the French security forces did their job well.
Had that not been the case, the Secret Service wouldn't be the only U.S. protective agency facing hard questions and public concern.
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