Headliner: McCarthy Weighs in on Secret Service Prostitute Scandal
The Orland Park police chief, and a former Secret Service agent, is disappointed by the actions of support agents in Columbia, but praises the agency for its quick response.
Tim McCarthy, police chief in Orland Park and a former Secret Service agent, described the behavior of Secret Service support agents in Cartagena, Colombia as “boorish,” “pathetic” and “incredibly stupid.” McCarthy, known for taking a bullet to save President Ronald Reagan, also praised efforts by the agency’s leadership to take responsibility for a handful of agents accused of soliciting prostitutes after a night of drinking.
“What I was hearing was incredibly stupid,” McCarthy told Patch in an interview Wednesday. “What was more important was not what was incredibly stupid or morally offensive, but was security compromised or were agents on duty impaired. Since that time, we have found out that security was not compromised and no one was on duty that was impaired.
“In any large agency, unfortunately, people do stupid things,” he said. “This was stupid, and now it is how you handle that. That is the most important part. To give credit where credit is due, you have seen few agencies anywhere that handled it as quickly and effectively as the Secret Service.”
Read more about Chief McCarthy’s thoughts on the matter.
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