Operation FALCON 2007 Nets Thousands of
Fugitives
Three-Month Operation Targets Communities,
Violent Offenders Nationwide
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Marshals
Service, assisted by federal, state and local law enforcement, arrested
6,406 fugitives and cleared 8,219 warrants in 27 operations across 22 states
as part of Operation FALCON 2007 (Federal and Local Cops Organized
Nationally), Acting Deputy Attorney General Craig Morford, and U.S. Marshals
Service Director John Clark announced today. Starting in Baton Rouge and
concluding in Philadelphia, Operation FALCON 2007 brought together the
talents and resources of 22 federal agencies, 70 state agencies, 206 county
sheriffs departments and 242 police departments, to again make the program a
success.
For this year’s FALCON operation, the fourth of its kind, the U.S. Marshals
Service stepped away from its traditional week-long national fugitive sweep,
and instead orchestrated a series of specifically targeted citywide and
regional fugitive apprehension efforts beginning in June and continuing for
four months. Using information obtained from a variety of sources such as
the Department of Justice Safe Communities Program, the Gang Targeting
Enforcement Coordination Center (GangTECC) and the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), 27 areas were identified and targeted
for fugitive apprehension and removal. A complete listing of areas targeted
can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov/falcon07.
Since its inception in 2005, Operation FALCON has made over 36,500 arrests
and cleared over 45,000 warrants. It continues to be the largest and most
successful fugitive apprehension effort in U.S. Marshals history.
In Operation FALCON 2007, as in prior operations, an emphasis was placed on
the capture of violent gang members and sex offenders. Nationwide, the
operation arrested 300 gang members and 542 sex offenders. Among those
brought in:
- William Caldwell was arrested on July
10, 2007 in the Middle District of Louisiana by a team of investigators
participating in Operation FALCON 2007. The West Feliciana Parish (LA)
Sheriff's Office wanted Caldwell for 192 counts of molestation of a
juvenile and 192 counts of sexual battery after he allegedly molested a
female minor over a seven-year period. Investigators identified
Caldwell's location, responded to that site, and safely took him into
custody.
- Casey Smith, a documented member of
the “Gangster Disciple 99” gang, surrendered to authorities in St.
Louis, Mo., on July 12, 2007, after a team of investigators assigned
to Operation FALCON 2007 in the Eastern District of Missouri
notified his family that they were pursuing him. The St. Louis
Metropolitan Police Department wanted Smith for statutory rape of a
victim under fourteen, as well as for child molestation. The St.
Louis County Police Department also wanted Smith for assault,
trespassing, and other charges. Smith has an extensive criminal
history of more than twenty-nine arrests for rape, sexual assault,
child molestation, statutory rape, assault, narcotics violations,
burglary, theft, and probation violations.
“Operation FALCON is a text book example of how
law enforcement can and should work,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General
Craig Morford. “Under the leadership of the U.S. Marshals Service, hundreds
of federal, state and local law enforcement officers polled their resources
and worked together to remove violent offenders, drug dealers, gang members,
sexual predators, and other fugitives from our streets. This cooperative
effort has made our communities safer and promotes future cooperative
efforts by law enforcement agencies at every level of government.”
U.S. Marshals Director Clark has overseen three of the four FALCON
operations since becoming head of the agency in March 2006. “I continue to
be impressed with the remarkable results that can be achieved when all of
law enforcement comes together,” said Director Clark. “What started three
years ago as a promising concept has materialized into the most effective
fugitive apprehension effort in the long history of the U.S. Marshals.
“Most importantly, by taking large numbers of violent fugitives off the
street, we put an immediate end to their unlawful activities. This is
significant, since many of these criminals have a long history of violence
and abuse. Our actions have spared families, friends and entire communities
the anguish of becoming victims at the hands of these repeat offenders,”
Clark said.
"Operation FALCON is doing an outstanding job apprehending fugitives accused
of sex crimes against children, taking them off the streets and bringing
them to justice," said NCMEC President and CEO Ernie Allen. "Children are
safer as a result of this important program."
In addition to the numerous gang members and sex offenders apprehended
during Operation FALCON 2007, 73 homicide arrests were made and 328 persons
were apprehended on weapons charges. Authorities also seized 249 weapons.
The Commander for this year’s Operation FALCON, Chief David Harlow, praised
the results and believes the operation met its objectives.
“With the lessons learned from the three prior FALCON operations, we felt
the time was right to step back from a large, broad-brush fugitive sweep and
instead target specific types of offenders in the communities where these
criminals were prevalent,” said Harlow. “What FALCON 2007 showed us was that
we could successfully take this large scale, multi-agency concept and not
only apply it to specific areas, but support the operations over an extended
period of time.”
The concept behind broad, interagency law enforcement operations such as
Operation FALCON evolved largely from smaller, local/regional task forces.
Groups such as these have historically combined local, state and federal
agencies to find and apprehend area fugitives. The U.S. Marshals adopted
such interagency teamwork in the early 1980s, when they combined their
resources and expertise in fugitive apprehension with the local knowledge
and unique insight of officers on the street level. Operation FALCON brought
this concept to an unprecedented, national scale in 2005.
In order to provide participating agencies with broader jurisdictional
authority, all state and local law enforcement officers are sworn in as
Special Deputy U.S. Marshals immediately prior to the start of a FALCON
operation. Throughout the course of the local operations, this special
authority from the U.S. Marshals Service empowered all local and state law
enforcement officers to cross traditional lines of jurisdiction to track
down and arrest targeted fugitives.
Director Clark credits this overwhelming support of law enforcement
nationwide for the continued success of Operation FALCON. “Though the
Marshals are oftentimes the public face of these operations, we have
hundreds of agencies and thousands of dedicated law enforcement officers
behind this effort. It’s a lot of work with many long hours, but everyone is
determined to make it happen,” said Clark. “We have cops onboard who aren’t
concerned about punching the clock, but are committed to tracking down and
arresting these violent fugitives. I thank them for their continued
assistance.”
Operation FALCON photos, fact sheets, lists of participating agencies,
statistics, graphics and more are available to the media at
www.usmarshals.gov/falcon07.
B-Roll: The following are the satellite
coordinates and time for the Operation FALCON 2007 B-Roll Pkg.
Date: Wednesday, October
31, 2007, 3:00-4:00 p.m. E.D.T.
AMC5-13K Analog
Located at 78.95 degrees West
U/L Freq: 14396 H
D/L Freq: 12096 V
For more information about the U.S. Marshals
Service, visit http://www.usmarshals.gov
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America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency
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