What Are the Blue Badges With Whie a White House
WASHINGTON TALK: WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON TALK: WHITE HOUSE; Security and All the President's Employees
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August 16, 1986
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The White House has always posed a special dilemma for the officials who are responsible for protecting the President and his family.
The mansion must be accessible, open for public tours and daily hordes of legislators and journalists. But it must also be so secure that no one posing a threat to the President could hope to work or visit there.
With its exhaustive background checks on staff members, its concrete barriers and cadre of armed guards, the security system is considered one of the most advanced in the world.
The need for obsessive caution became clear again this week when it was reported that Nancy Reagan's personal maid had been arrested in Virginia on a Federal charge of aiding and abetting the illegal export of munitions. Until she was placed on leave Aug. 7, the maid, Anita S. Castelo, had access to much of the East Wing of the White House, including the Reagans' private quarters.
Officials were quick to say that Mrs. Castelo may have been duped into participating in a ring that smuggled ammunition to South America. She has denied any wrongdoing. But the thought that someone reputedly tied to criminal activity had daily contact with the First Family raises questions about whether the security system needs improvement. Should Mrs. Castelo's actions have been detected earlier? How? Are new security measures needed?
''We're always assessing the security situation here,'' said Mark Weinberg, a White House spokesman.
White House employees are supposed to be among the most thoroughly screened in Washington.
The names of prospective staff members are first forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for what is known as a ''special inquiry.'' F.B.I. agents at offices throughout the United States are made available to conduct a background check.
''We do a very, very thorough investigation,'' said Milt Ahlerich, a spokesman.
Bureau agents are expected to talk with friends, relatives and neighbors of the prospective employee. Work histories are reviewed, and references are checked. Agents look for arrest records and follow up on unflattering rumors.
''We'll go as far as nececessary to resolve any derogatory information,'' Mr. Ahlerich said. The F.B.I. investigation is performed for all prospective employees, from maids to the most senior Presidential aides. It can take months, even for officials who have had background checks before.
A former Pentagon official recalled recently that he was subjected to an extensive background while working for the Defense Department. After he left to become a national security consultant for the White House, a new background investigation was requested, he said, and it lasted nearly nine months.
When a check is completed, the results are sent back to the White House. The F.B.I. makes no recommendation on whether to hire a worker, but a background check that raises suspicions can easily kill the applicant's chances.
The F.B.I. said Mrs. Castelo, a native of Paraguay who apparently lived quietly with her husband in a Washington suburb, was investigated when she first went to work for the Reagans in 1981. Agents found nothing in her background to indicate a serious problem, officials said.
Like most White House employees, Mrs. Castelo wore a plastic-coated identification badge.
The badges bear photographs of the employees and are color-coded. The color corresponds to the employee's importance and access to secure areas of the White House.
For status seekers, a blue badge is the most desirible; it provides a staff member with the run of the White House and the neighboring Old Executive Office Building. Mrs. Castelo apparently had a blue badge. Orange and brown badges provide more limited access.
For additional security, the employee photograph is covered with a translucent hologram, a thin layer of film bearing a laser-generated, three-dimensional design. The hologram on a White House press pass displays a lace-like design; if the badge is flexed, the lace turns from red to yellow to green.
The badges are like passports, and Secret Service guards are stationed at checkpoints to be certain no one wanders without authority - that the bearer of an orange badge, for example, stays out of a blue-badge zone.
Despite the elaborate procedures, there are embarrassments.
The Secret Service is still trying to live down a 1985 incident in which a badgeless tourist, a Denver water-meter reader named Robert Latta, marched in behind the Marine Band and was found seated at the Reagans' dining room table.
The White House is ringed with high metal gates and concrete barriers designed to stop bomb-laden trucks. Police guards are stationed on the grounds and atop the roof. Pressure sensors dot the lawns.
Although the White House has refused to comment, there have been repeated reports indicating that missiles are positioned on the roof or on the ground nearby. Planes and helicopters are formally advised to stay well away from the building.
After a 1984 incident in which an armed man seen lurking outside the White House grounds was shot and wounded by a Secret Service agent, the Reagan Administration announced that the press and most visitors would be restricted to two gates. The policy also required that they pass through magnetometers for detection of weapons.
The only exceptions to the procedures, it said, were diplomats, Cabinet officers, lawmakers, justices of the Supreme Court, and, of course, the Reagan family.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/16/us/washington-talk-white-house-security-and-all-the-president-s-employees.html#:~:text=For%20status%20seekers%2C%20a%20blue,neighboring%20Old%20Executive%20Office%20Building.
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