MAIN EDITORS—Phil Andrew, a former FBI agent and head of the Pax Group security consulting firm, said protection at such events are made up of “three rings of security,” with the first being the Secret Service agents who can physically shield an individual, a second team working the perimeters of an event, and a third focused on the exterior areas.
While the first two rings are pretty much entirely Secret Service responsibility, local law enforcement can be used for the third, as it was with the building the shooter climbed.