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Chicago, IL – Established eight years ago to combine the
talent and resources of a variety of federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies toward apprehending dangerous fugitives, the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes
Regional Fugitive Task Force, based here, recently netted its 50,000th arrest.
Serving the states of Illinois, Indiana and part of Wisconsin, the task force
accounts for roughly 9,000 arrests annually – or 10 percent of all arrests made
by the U.S. Marshals nationwide.
“Reaching a milestone such as this only further demonstrates to the public our
task force’s commitment day in and day out to bringing violent offenders in our
community to justice, “ said Chief Inspector Jason Grunwald, Task Force
Commander. “We, as a task force, don’t take a day off from locating and
arresting these fugitives as we know their propensity, as long as they are out
there, to victimize the citizens of our community through their ongoing criminal
activity.”
The GLRFTF is congressionally-funded, with the mission to partner with state and
local agencies to identify and apprehend the community’s most violent and
heinous offenders. The GLRFTF has partnered with agencies throughout the state
of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin to include eight federal agencies and more
than 40 state and local law enforcement agencies. They are comprised of
approximately 204 law enforcement officers who are assigned to the task force.
Nationally, the U.S. Marshals Service is the federal government’s primary agency
for conducting fugitive investigations and plays a critical role in implementing
the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy.
“With 50,000 arrests to its credit, the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force
is a prime example of effective policing and cooperation between federal, state
and local law enforcement, said Stacia Hylton, Director of the U.S. Marshals
Service. “The Marshals Service is committed to protecting our communities and
our children. Our network of seven regional fugitive task forces and 75 district
task forces nationwide is a true force-multiplier, and the result is that we
arrested over 122,000 violent felons, gang members, and sexual predators, last
year.”
Some of the more significant arrests in which the task force has been involved
include the 2004 arrest of Justin Chapman, wanted for the death of a 7-year-old
girl who was struck in the head by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting.
The GLRFTF was also involved in the capture of the three violent inmates who
escaped from the Indiana State Penitentiary in Michigan City, Ind., in July
2009. In March 2007, GLRFTF investigators also were able to arrest Daniel Rappe
in Willowbrook, IL. Rappe, a former officer with the Dupage County Sheriff’s
Department, was wanted by authorities for failing to register as a sex offender
based on his sexual abuse convictions in 1986 and 1989. Rappe became the 1st
person in the State of Illinois to be federally convicted under the Adam Walsh
Act. More recently, the task force took the lead in the capture of fugitive
Michael Smith, wanted in connection with the November 2011 murder of Reginald
Lanier, who was working as an Aldi security guard during an attempted robbery of
the store. Smith, a known member of the Gangster Disciples street gang, was
captured in Wisconsin by the GLRFTF. Smith’s capture became the GLRFTF’s
50,000th arrest since its inception.
“The Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force has distinguished itself in
federal law enforcement by placing an emphasis on not only fugitive apprehension
but also by focusing on the reduction of violent crime - targeting the worst of
the worst fugitive felons, violent and noncompliant sex offenders, gang members
and narcotics traffickers,” Grunwald said. Included in the 50,000 arrests are
more than 1,600 fugitives arrested for homicide and more than 4,600 individuals
wanted on sex offense violations. In addition, the task force executed the
arrests of more than 15,000 fugitive felons for narcotics violations and has
arrested more than 3,600 individuals with known gang affiliations.
The GLRFTF has offices in Chicago; Hammond, Ind.; Champaign, Ill.; Springfield,
Ill.; East St. Louis, Ill.; South Bend, Ind.; Indianapolis and Milwaukee.
In addition to the 50,000 fugitive felons captured, the task force has seized
more than 3,000 kilograms of narcotics, more than 60 vehicles, more than 1,200
weapons and more than $ 2.5 million in cash.
Additional information about the U.S.
Marshals Service can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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