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
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