Anne Arundel Resident Named Secret Service Director

WASHINGTON, DC — A veteran agent who lives in Anne Arundel County has taken over as director of the U.S. Secret Service, the agency announced Wednesday. James M. Murray was sworn in during a ceremony at the Secret Service headquarters, the agency announced.

“This is an exciting and invigorating time at the Secret Service and it is an honor to have been selected for this position,” Murray said in a statement. “I look forward to the opportunity to lead this extraordinary agency and continue to build upon its success"

Murray began his career with the Secret Service in 1995, assigned to the New York Field Office, the agency said. There, he conducted financial investigations and served as the agency’s representative on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

In 2001, Murray was appointed to the Presidential Protective Division and promoted in 2005 to assistant to the division's special agent in charge.

Beginning in 2012, he was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the James J. Rowley Training Center, where he oversaw the budget and operations of the 500-acre academy in Laurel. Named for a former Secret Service director, the academy trains the agency's officers.

Most recently, Murray served as the assistant director of protective operations, the agency said.

He's a native of Point Pleasant, N.J., and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Scranton and a master’s degree from Seton Hall University.

Part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service protects the nation’s highest elected officials and visiting foreign dignitaries. It also investigates cyber and financial crimes.