The FALCON Soars Again...
Thousands Rounded Up in National Sweep

Western District of Virginia - It was the third in a series of national round ups led by the United States Marshals Service and their network of fugitive task forces. The primary targets, sexual predators and violent gang members. The players, hundreds of officers specially deputized as Special Deputy United States Marshals. The goal, seek and arrest as many violent fugitives as possible in a one week period from October 22 - October 28. The result, a total of 10,773 arrests, including 1,659 Sex Offenders and 364 Gang Members. FALCON III, the acronym for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally combined the talents of federal, state and local officers charged with the mission to seek and apprehend fugitives wanted at all levels of government. In all, 12,840 outstanding felony warrants were cleared, 455 weapons were seized, 164 stolen vehicles were recovered, and 3,451 charges of possession of illegal drugs were lodged subsequent to arrest.

Honing in on sexual predators and fugitive gang members, Operation FALCON III’s success comes on the heels of the “Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act,” which was signed into law by President Bush on July 27, 2006. The Act makes it a federal felony, punishable by up to ten years imprisonment, for convicted sex offenders who fail to register and who travel in interstate or foreign commerce. The U.S. Marshals Service was designated by the Act as the agency to lead the national effort to track down and arrest these fugitive felons.

The statistics for the nation wide operation were:

• Sex Offense Arrests - 351
• Arrests for Sexual Assaults (Rape, etc.) - 449
• Arrests for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender - 859
• Arson - 41
• Assault (other than sexual assault) - 1,562
• Burglary / Larceny - 1,946
• Extortion - 9
• Financial Fraud - 1,037
• Homicide - 124
• Kidnapping - 64
• Narcotics - 3,451
• Robbery - 533
• Other Arrests (including probation/parole violations) - 1,811

Locally, the Blue Ridge Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (BRFAST) task force and our local partners in state and local law enforcement cleared 55 arrest warrants in this week long effort. Statistics for the Western District of Virginia were:

• Sex Offense Arrests - 1
• Sexual Assault Arrests - 6
• Arrests for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender - 9
• Assaults (other than sexual assault) - 2
• Financial Fraud - 3
• Kidnapping - 1
• Narcotics - 13
• Robbery - 1
• Weapons - 1
• Other Arrests (including probation/parole violations - 18

Agencies participating in this concerted effort from the Western District of Virginia include:

• U.S. Marshals Service Virginia State Police
• Virginia Dept Probation & Parole Lynchburg Police Department
• Bedford Co. Sheriff’s Office Amherst Co. Sheriff’s Office
• Appomattox Co. Sheriff’s Office DEA - Bristol
• Bristol, VA & TN Police Dept’s. Smyth Co. Sheriff’s Office
• Washington Co. Sheriff’s Office Russell Co. Sheriff’s Office
• Bureau of ATF - Bristol Tazewell Co. Sheriff’s Office
• Waynesboro Police Department Roanoke City Police Department
• Wise Co. Sheriff’s Office Danville City Police Department

The Blue Ridge Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (BRFAST) task force was formed by the Marshals Service in 2004 as a joint federal, state and local law enforcement endeavor to pursue and arrest dangerous fugitives wanted at the international, national and state level thereby making our communities safer for our citizens and our children. To date, the BRFAST has cleared more than 200 federal arrest warrants and over 500 state arrest warrants.

The Marshals Service is our nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency founded in 1789. U.S. Marshals and their deputies are responsible for providing protection to the federal judiciary, transporting federal prisoners, protecting endangered federal witnesses and managing assets seized from criminal enterprises. In fiscal year 2005, the Marshals Service apprehended more than 35,500 federal fugitives, more than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined.

In addition, while working with authorities at the state and local levels, Marshals Service led fugitive task forces arrested an additional 44,000 state and local fugitives. More on the U.S. Marshals and the historic Western District of Virginia can be found at www.usmarshals.gov by clicking on Local District Offices.