The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday said the alarm system installed at the Houston residence of former US President George HW Bush and first lady Barbara Bush remained inoperable for nearly 13 months before the Secret Service fixed the utility.
The disclosure about the security lapses at the former American president’s residence was made in a report released on Thursday by the Homeland Department.
The report has not precisely made clear about when the alarm system was failed. According to the report, the failure was first experienced in September 2013.
The report further stated that a security expert for the agency had in 2010 recommended a replacement of the alarm system, which was installed in 1993. However, the request was turned down in August 2011.
Inspector General John Roth has mentioned in the report that the Secret Service agents, who were recruited at the Bushes’ home in Texas, had assigned an agent for patrolling the residence “in a roving post.”
The report also mentioned about the broader issues related to the security lapses with reporting, identification and tracking system malfunctioning and problems linked to repairing and replacing systems. According to Roth, this “may be affecting other residences protected by the agency”.
The office of the inspector general made a visit to the former president’s house in October last year following complaints that the alarm system was broken. However, the report said that the Technical Security Division of the Secret Service received a permanent alarm replacement in January last year.
“We did not determine why the equipment was not replaced in 2011 when it was originally recommended or why the alarm system obtained in January 2014 was not installed until November or December 2014,” Roth wrote in the report.
A temporary alarm was installed by the Technical Security Division last April and a more permanent system later in the fall.