U.S. Marshals Service Leads Sex Offender Initiative Operation Safe Start Prior to New School Year

Augusta, GA – Operation Safe Start was a coordinated sex offender compliance and enforcement operation conducted by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, and the United States Marshals Service (USMS), in coordination with other local and state law enforcement agencies. The operation enhanced public safety, ensuring several hundred registered sex offenders were compliant with registration requirements and court-ordered conditions before the start of the school year.

The operation was successful, with law enforcement conducting over 300 compliance checks, identifying more than 30 registration violations, and making multiple arrests during the five-day operation.

"The safety of our children and our community will always be a top priority,” said Sheriff Eugene Brantley, Richmond County Sheriff's Office. “Operations like Safe Start demonstrate what can be accomplished when federal, state, and local law enforcement work together to hold offenders accountable, ensure compliance with the law, and protect our neighborhoods as students return to school.”

“Operation Safe Start serves as a reminder that justice is promised to those who exploit the vulnerable,” said U.S. Marshal Tommy Kilbride, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia. “Law enforcement will never stop working to protect our communities, keep our children safe, and hold those who violate the law accountable.”

Annually, the USMS conducts more than 200 sex offender operations, assisting state and local agencies with sex offender compliance and enforcement actions across the nation.

Since the inception of the Adam Walsh Act, the USMS has opened 52,000 investigations for federal Failure to Register violations and closed by arrest more than 7,500 federal warrants for violation.

The USMS prioritizes sex offense warrants under its fugitive mission. Since 2006, the USMS and its fugitive task forces partners have closed by arrest 250,000 felony warrants for fugitives wanted on sex offense, sex assault, or failure to register-related warrants.

The USMS has executed more than 5,300 sex offender compliance and enforcement operations, partnering with law enforcement officers from state and local law enforcement agencies in all 50 states and U.S. territories. During these operations, the U.S. Marshals Service assisted state and local enforcement partners with more than 842,000 compliance checks on known sex offenders.

Members of the public are encouraged to report information regarding wanted fugitives and sex offender registration violations to the nearest USMS office or law enforcement agency.