Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Marshals Service, assisted by federal, state and local law enforcement, arrested 19,380 fugitives and cleared 25,087 warrants as part of Operation FALCON 2008 (Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally), Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, and U.S. Marshals Service Director John F. Clark announced today. Ranging from coast to coast, Operation FALCON 2008 brought together the talents and resources of 30 federal agencies, 162 state agencies and 1,425 local sheriffs’ and police departments, to again make the program a huge success.

For this year’s FALCON operation, the fifth of its kind, the U.S. Marshals returned FALCON to its roots as a nationwide fugitive apprehension initiative during the month of June. However, Marshals made a slight alteration to the original FALCON concept with record-breaking results. Rather than a single, intensive week of operations across the nation, participating District and Regional Task Forces chose a week in June to coordinate the best operational schedule allowing optimal participation by local, county, state and federal law enforcement partners. A complete list of participating Districts can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov/falcon08/media.htm.

Since its inception in 2005, Operation FALCON has made more than 55,800 arrests and cleared over 70,500 warrants and is the single most successful initiative aimed at apprehending violent fugitives in U.S. law enforcement history.

In Operation FALCON 2008, as in prior operations, an emphasis was placed on the capture of violent offenders, gang members and sex offenders. Nationwide, the operation arrested 161 persons wanted for murder, 388 gang members and 1,096 sex offenders. Among those brought in:

• FALCON investigators arrested Roger Allen Chipman June 4 in Milwaukee, Wis. Chipman walked away from a Michigan prison work detail in 1970. At the time of his escape, he was serving a five to 10-year prison term for a 1968 conviction for indecent liberties with a minor. Once the U.S. Marshals adopted the case, FALCON investigators determined Chipman had assumed a false identity – Roger Allen Hansen. U.S. Marshals discovered that in 1978 Milwaukee authorities arrested Chipman under this alias for sexual assault on a child, and again in 1995 for criminal sexual assault. Chipman registered as a sex offender using his alias. Acting on information obtained from the sex offender registry, FALCON investigators identified Chipman’s location, responded to that site and took him into custody. While attempting to locate Chipman, investigators also developed information that he fraudulently obtained Social Security benefits. Chipman may face additional federal charges relating to those allegations.

• FALCON investigators arrested Steve Kwon and Jae Hwan Shim June 23 at the Port of Entry in Douglas, Ariz., after the two were deported from Mexico. California authorities wanted Kwon and Shim, South Korean nationals, on four counts of murder. Authorities in Los Angeles County allege Kwon and Shim murdered four individuals, a NASA engineer, an unidentified woman, a 10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. California firefighters discovered the bodies after extinguishing a house fire in Quartz Hill June 23. California authorities developed information identifying Shim and Kwon as the alleged assailants as well as leads indicating they fled to Mexico and contacted the U.S. Marshals for assistance. FALCON investigators subsequently coordinated the location, arrest and deportation of Kwon and Shim. Kwon and Shim currently remain in custody in Arizona pending extradition to California.

"Operation FALCON is a perfect example of how law enforcement can and should work," said Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. "Led by the U.S. Marshals, a network of federal, state and local law enforcement officers has cleared America’s streets of thousands of violent offenders, drug dealers, gang members, sexual predators, and other fugitives. These cooperative efforts make our communities safer and their successes promote future collaboration among law enforcement agencies at every level of government."

U.S. Marshals Director Clark has overseen four of the five 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,” Director Clark said. “What started four 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.

In addition to the numerous murderers, gang members and sex offenders apprehended during Operation FALCON 2008, 796 persons were apprehended on weapons charges and 6,252 were arrested on narcotics charges. Authorities also seized more than $1.5 million, 418 weapons, 34 vehicles and over 2,400 kg of narcotics. The fugitives arrested during the operation have a collective history of almost 94,000 prior arrests.

The Commander for this year’s Operation FALCON, Chief William Fallon, praised the results and believes the operation far exceeded expectations.

“Returning FALCON to its roots of a nationwide fugitive manhunt accomplished a feat never before done by the Marshals – nearly 20,000 wanted felons, many of whom were impact players for crime in their communities, off the streets in a mere four weeks time,” Fallon said. “FALCON 2008 shows us that when law enforcement from all levels joins forces, no fugitive can hide from justice for long.”

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, 4,209 federal, state and local law enforcement officers were 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 empowered all participating 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,” Clark said. “We have cops onboard 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 http://www.usmarshals.gov/falcon08/media.htm.

B-Roll operational footage of Operation FALCON 2008 will be available for satellite uplink today from 11:30 a.m. EST - 12:30 p.m. EST. Coordinates below:

AMC5-13K, located at 78.95*W
U/L AMC5-13K ANALOG
U/L FREQ: 14396H
D/L FREQ: 12096V
 

America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency