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Ex-Secret Service agent on 2011 White House shooting: ‘Complacency’ an issue

On the heels of a Washington Post report that it took four days for the Secret Service to realize a gunman hit the White House in 2011, one former Secret Service agent says the agency needs to change its ways to prevent "complacency" and stop future threats. "When you say complacency, it means when you get used to nothing ever happening typically, when something does happen you fail to connect th

On the heels of a Washington Post report that it took four days for the Secret Service to realize a gunman hit the White House in 2011, one former Secret Service agent says the agency needs to change its ways to prevent "complacency" and stop future threats

"When you say complacency, it means when you get used to nothing ever happening typically, when something does happen you fail to connect those dots properly,'' former agent Evy Poumpouras told Matt Lauer on TODAY Monday. 

More from Poumpouras: 

  • On being at the White House on the day of the 2011 shooting: "I didn't have any personal experience on that day with the incidents as we rotate shifts."
  • On changes that need to be made in the Secret Service: "I think at the end of the day it's the management style,'' Poumpouras said. "You have to investigate the incident itself, but you also have to look inward and say, 'What are we doing collectively as a whole?' The leadership needs I think to broaden its mind, to open its horizons, bring in new perspectives."

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