On Wednesday, May 28th, the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) will be recognized by the State of Ohio’s House of Representatives and Representative Tom Patton, for its outstanding success in fugitive apprehension.

Since its creation in June of 2003 by U.S. Marshal Peter J. Elliott, the NOVFTF has worked collaboratively with law enforcement agencies throughout the district to arrest violent fugitives at a record pace. In March of this year, the NOVFTF reached a milestone with the arrest of its 15,000th fugitive.

On April 1, 2008, the NOVFTF received the United States Marshals Service Director’s Award for “Distinguished Group for Outstanding Fugitive Task Force” in recognition of its accomplishments in fugitive apprehension. This award is the highest honor that the Marshals Service bestows upon its employees and law enforcement partners. The NOVFTF was the only fugitive task force selected in the nation. “The NOVFTF has become synonymous with fugitive apprehension in the Northern District of Ohio, and the future of the NOVFTF remains bright through the hard work and dedication of its members,” says Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander.

The NOVFTF is comprised of 200 law enforcement officers from over 60 agencies, and has offices in Cleveland, Lorain, Akron, Toledo and Youngstown. “The success of this Task Force is driven by the task force officers and the Deputy Marshals who hunt the streets for these fugitives daily”, said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Angel Gonzalez. “It is the cooperation that we receive from our local colleagues that makes this task force so successful.”

The Task Force’s wide-reaching grasp has nabbed fugitives across the United States, as well as in Mexico and Panama, and has tracked fugitives as far as Israel. The Marshals Service has task forces in 86 of its 94 districts, and the NOVFTF has consistently been one of the leaders in apprehensions in the country.


Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.