Lives of Consequence
Sgt. Stuart Hillenbrand ’04
U.S. Secret Service, Uniformed Division
After graduation in 2004, Hillenbrand began his law enforcement career with the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department (SCMPD) in Savannah, Ga., as a patrol officer. By his last year with the SCMPD, he had climbed to the anti-street narcotics task force, where he worked closely with several federal agencies, including the Secret Service.
Since he joined the Service in 2008, assigned to the White House Branch as a member of the Surveillance Team, Hillenbrand has “come to realize that my job is far more complicated than simply the protection of a building or of a person. The Office of the President is a symbol of American history and the seat of freedom in the Western world. The safety of this office is the safety of the entire Executive branch of our democracy. This important mission transcends party lines and political affiliations and it is this neutral devotion to the overall security of our nation's leader that makes this job so important.”
Hillenbrand and the Surveillance Team were “responsible for uniformed patrols, both in cruisers and on bikes, of the White House complex,” he says. “We made traffic stops, enforced D.C. law, responded to calls for service and provided the first layer of defense for the House.”
In 2011, Hillenbrand became a member of the Presidential advance team, “traveling ahead of protective visits and assisting with the protection plan and organizing logistics necessary for the assets who would travel to work the event,” he says. “Uniformed Division officers travel in support of protective visits as magnetometers (metal detector) and x-ray operators. All visitors attending any protective events are screened by our officers for any hazardous devices (such as IEDs) and offensive and defensive weapons.”
Hillenbrand’s promotion to the rank of sergeant in June of 2013 saw him reassigned to the Vice President’s residence, where he currently serves as a shift supervisor, “responsible for the supervision of the working officers at the branch,” he says. “I come back to work everyday with the knowledge that I get to see something new just about every shift. I still get to work the uniformed police job that I loved so much as an officer in Savannah but I also now get to add the federal side of the adventure as well. I have had the opportunity to travel all over the country and the world, to include trips to Brazil, South Africa (twice), Thailand, Israel and Korea. Not many people can say that they worked inside the White House, and I am privileged to have served my country in this capacity.”
A participant in the annual Day on the Hill event, Hillenbrand earned his B.A. in political science, which, he says, “has given me an invaluable outlook to appreciate the world that I work in. I have witnessed bill signings and press conferences. I have participated in State of the Union addresses and inaugurations. The analytical skills crucial in political science also give me an edge with my testimony in court and with my criminal cases.”