Report Recommends Major Changes to Secret Service, White House

A new report calls for physical changes to the White House and new leadership for the force that protects it after the September fence jumping in which an Iraq war veteran with a knife got far into the mansion before being tackled.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson ordered a panel review of the U.S. Secret Service after that embarrassing failure.

The panel issued its eye-popping recommendations Thursday.

It recommended the White House fence be changed "as soon as possible," suggesting it be built 5 feet taller.

It also suggested the agency beef up its force with 200 hundred more agents and several dozen more on the detail that protects the president.

A new leader and a cultural change in the agency were recommended, too.

And it suggested more training. For the president's detail it wants two weeks of training every two months.

“Acting Director [Joseph] Clancy has already taken a number of steps to enhance security around the White House compound and do a number of other things which are very positive,” Johnson told MSNBC. “We’re encouraging him to continue that, but there are more fundamental, systemic issues with the Secret Service that I think need to be addressed and that cannot be addressed overnight.”

The panel said the Secret Service badly needs more agents, and that once it has more agents, it will be easier to provide more training to the force.

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