History
Eduardo Gonzalez
From November 1993 until June 1999, Eduardo Gonzalez served as Director of the
U.S. Marshals
Service. His Florida roots stoked his interest in law enforcement, and in
particular, community policing.
He received a degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University.
While working in a family
business, a local police captain was his mentor. From 1965, he worked with the
Dade County Public
Safety Department and worked through the ranks of that organization. In the
early 1990s, Gonzalez
became the police chief in Tampa, but a short time afterward President William
J. Clinton appointed him
as Director of the U.S. Marshals Service.
His term as Director was largely a transitional one. Faced with budget cuts and
shifting focus,
Eduardo Gonzalez prioritized organizational solutions and judiciary duties. One
change he sought to
implement was reinforced protection for the federal judiciary. He once noted
that “the chaos which
occurs in many countries when the judiciary breaks down, often because of the
numbers of threats they
receive while enforcing the laws of the country.” Director Gonzalez also sought
accreditation for the
agency, and the U.S. Marshals achieved that goal. He was complimented in times
of crisis, particularly
during the aftermath of the April 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in
Oklahoma City.
He returned to Southern Florida after his term, but always stayed busy. On March
14, 2014, former
Director Gonzalez, 73, passed away from a heart attack in Kendall, Florida. |
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