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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