Hundreds of fugitives nabbed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Local, state and federal law enforcement officers arrested 257 fugitives in Missouri last week and another 201 in Kansas as part of a national effort to get violent criminals off the streets, officials said Thursday. The state roundups were part of Operation FALCON, an acronym for "Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally."

While there were some arrests on warrants for things like failing to pay child support and drug violations, officials said, most nabbed in the seven-day sweep were considered violent offenders.

"For us, it's closure for these cases -- particularly for the victims," said Walter Bradley, U.S. marshal in Kansas.

Kansas has conducted similar dragnets for fugitives on a local and regional level, but this was the first such coordinated national effort, Bradley said.

"It is a great day for justice in this country -- to show crime does not pay," U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said.

Nationwide, 10,340 wanted felons were taken into custody during the crackdown, which ran from April 4 through Sunday as a prelude to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which began Sunday.

"All of these individuals were wanted felons with a prior criminal history who, if left at large, could commit additional crimes," Ron Henderson, U.S. marshal in Missouri's Eastern District, said of the fugitives caught in his district.

Officials said the high number of arrests was possible only through combining the resources of the various law enforcement agencies.

"When you put, in our case locally, 30 law enforcement officers on the street working long hours, you end up with a lot more individuals than if you have a smattering of law enforcement dealing with warrants over time," said C. Mauri Sheer, U.S. marshal for Missouri's Western District, based in Kansas City. "There aren't enough resources normally to go out and do this 24/7. We had to take people off other assignments to do this."

Sheer said planning for Operation FALCON took several months and was coordinated by the U.S. Marshals Service. He said he didn't know whether similar roundups will be conducted in the future.

"This was an enormous challenge that produced the largest number of arrests ever recorded by a single operation," he said. "The success achieved here would not have been possible without the substantial investment of time and manpower donated by the various law enforcement entities which participated in this operation."

Henderson said the effort had an effect on crime in the state, but much remains to be done.

"We have to be reasonable," he said. "We're not in heaven. There are still a lot of problems, and the number of folks still out there have shown from their previous records they lean toward these types of offenses.

"We've made a difference," he said. "Can we make a bigger difference? Yes, we can."