The man who wore badge 545, Detective Robert Clark of Ohio, was gunned down by a fugitive from Florida who was wanted for assault and robbery. A fugitive who hours earlier, had been incarcerated in a Ohio jail. A fugitive who had to be let go, because Florida wouldn't pick him up. St. Louis Today.com 03/03/08
10-year-old Jeffrey Curley of Cambridge, MA was brutally murdered. One of the men convicted of the crime, Charles Jaynes, was wanted on 75 outstanding arrest warrants from 18 District Courts at the time of the murder. The Boston Globe 03/04/1997
Annie Glenn was shot and killed in front of her three young children by Richard Kenney, an ex-boyfriend who was wanted on outstanding warrants for crimes such as possession of cocaine and receiving stolen property. The Boston Globe 02/22/1997
The sustained unwillingness or lackadaisical attitude towards tracking and extraditing fugitives has been the topic of several of my past articles and the focus of my graduate research for over five years. As I continue to delve into and expand my arrest warrant training seminar, I regularly uncover an absurd amount of news articles that illustrate the complete and utter disregard of the topic as fugitives continue to steer clear of extradition and evade capture nationwide.
From an administrative standpoint, I absolutely understand the lack of departmental funding to extradite fugitives and the constant battle to locate operating capital to track fugitives. But from an enforcement standpoint, sworn to protect and serve, I cannot comprehend how we have come to accept the formula of crime = arrest X bond + failure to appear = Nananana boo boo, you can't catch me.
As I plan to dive into other subject matter for O.com in the future, I wanted to take the liberty to revisit a few additional areas, officers may want to consider in respect to arrest warrants.
Rome wasn't built in a day
As the age old saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day"; neither is the ability to capture each and every fugitive in your locale. If you are not assigned to a specialty unit and are merely working arrest warrants between calls, select one, maybe two targets at a time and work through them until you can proceed to the next one. More often than not, when running multiple targets, an officer can easily become inundated with information overload. If you reach a point that inhibits you from furthering your investigation, file that case away until new information presents itself and select a new target.
Know before you go
One of the most crucial points of tracking a fugitive that I found is, know before you go. Spending time, fuel and undo wear and tear on a vehicle attempting to pinpoint your fugitive's whereabouts will not only cause YOU grief and despair but surely reinforce a case of aggravation for your Chief or Sheriff. Instead, attempt to network your resources by ensuring your subjects whereabouts before hitting the streets. An ex-spouse, coworker, bondsman, convenience store attendant, trash company, other officers or state agency i.e. food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance etc all make for added resources to any investigation.
A Picture is worth a thousand words
For the past two years, I have routinely stopped at the same gas station each and every morning to purchase my gigantic can of Red Bull™ and top off my tank. As I have entered the business each and every morning, other than idle chit chat with the cashier, I am certain that she has absolutely no idea of my name, or where I live or work. With this in mind, an officer could present a copy of an arrest warrant to that attendant for my arrest and without a photo, have no chance in determining if I had been, will be or might return to that particular location. On the other side of the coin, I am certain that with a current drivers license or booking photo, the employee could easily articulate that I frequent their business each morning between six and seven in the morning.
As a vital section to any fugitive investigation even if the officer has had prior contact with the subject, it is always recommended to acquire a current photo for those persons who can provide critical information on the subject's day to day habits.
Final thoughts on arrest warrants
Although operational boundaries will now and forever exist in regard to arrest warrants, I am convinced that as long as there are a few men and women in the law enforcement community that are willing to go that extra mile, we will continue to fuel the fire of this profession we call law enforcement and provide a haven of protection to those we serve.
