Cleveland, OH – The communities of the 40 counties located within the Northern District of Ohio are a much safer place this week as local, state and federal law enforcement joined forces for a week long fugitive apprehension effort spanning from June 23 through June 30. FALCON, the acronym for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally, soared into the greater Cleveland area during that week and resulted in over 395 fugitives physically arrested and the clearing of a record best 423 outstanding warrants. As a district, Northern Ohio ranked third out of ninety-four districts nationally.

Operation FALCON 2008, the fifth in a series of U.S. Marshals Service-led fugitive apprehension initiatives partnered U.S. Marshals with local, county, state and other federal agencies, each dedicating manpower and resources to the goal of removing as many violent offenders from our streets and communities as possible while clearing backlogged warrants from law enforcement files.

The successful partnership has produced incredible results over the past four years and as a result, over 36,500 fugitives that have evaded justice were captured. Operation FALCON has proven to be the largest and most successful fugitive apprehension effort in the history of the U.S. Marshals.

The Northern District of Ohio targeted fugitives specifically for crimes of violence, sex offenders, gang members, and narcotics violations. Participating agencies were encouraged to share resources and identify wanted persons within their communities who were then targeted by assigned arrest teams within each geographical area.

“The goal of Operation FALCON is simple – to make communities safer,” said John F. Clark, Director of the U.S. Marshals Service. “Each time we wrap up a FALCON operation in any location, there are less dangerous individuals – and fewer threats to the community – than there were when we got there. That is very gratifying.”

Operation FALCON is a joint, collaborative law enforcement effort and the U.S. Marshals appreciate the officers from every agency that participated in Operation FALCON throughout the Northern District of Ohio. “The United States Marshals Service for the Northern District of Ohio applauds the achievements of every Deputy U.S. Marshal, police officer, detective, investigator, deputy sheriff, trooper and special agent who hit the street virtually around-the-clock for seven days,” stated Peter J. Elliott U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio.

For more information about Operation FALCON, visit http://www.usmarshals.gov/falcon08/media.htm.
 

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