UNITED STATES MARSHALL: SERVING JUSTICE FOR ALL

James Arnez. John Wayne. Sean Connery. Tommy Lee Jones.

All have portrayed characters representing the U.S. Marshals Service in various films, but their roles barely scratched the surface of an actual marshal's job description.

"I think Hollywood has an interesting perspective of the Marshal's Service, but they've left out some very important years," said Deputy Marshal Clarence Comer of the service's Cape Girardeau office.

Comer, who has been a deputy marshal for 22 years, is one of four deputies based in the Cape Girardeau Federal Building who work a 17-county area south of St. Louis. He said he was attracted to the agency because of the changeability of the job and because of his memories of the television show "Gunsmoke."

"They approached me about it when I was still in the military, and the first thing I asked them was is it anything like Matt Dillon," he said.

Since 1789, federal marshals have served the nation through a variety of law-enforcement activities. A director, deputy director and 94 marshals appointed by the president or attorney general direct the activities of offices throughout the nation.

Some 4,200 deputy marshals are charged with protecting federal judges, attorneys, jurors and witnesses as well as executing arrest warrants and apprehending federal fugitives.

Deputies have historically been a diverse, multicultural group, Comer said. In fact, when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, a black marshal helped work the case.

"We're the only agency that I know of that's never been under a court-ordered mandate to hire minorities," he said. "We've always maintained more than 29 percent minorities.

"That's the good thing about us. You never can tell who we are or what we look like," Comer said.

Besides their other duties, deputy marshals are responsible for processing, transporting and providing other services to federal prisoners arrested in their district. Many of the prisoners processed locally are being held on drug-related charges, but marshals work with prisoners charged with any federal crime.

"Everybody we handle is considered maximum security," Comer said. "We're the repository for all federal arrests. We're doing about a third of the overall workload for our district."

A major portion of the marshals' work is related to judicial security. Although a contracted service provider monitors exterior security at the federal courthouse, Comer said all other security is maintained by deputies.

"In any country, when you can attack the judicial system, you're attacking the core of people's belief that we can make it all work," he said. "That's why it's really important that we maintain security at all costs."

Since the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City several years ago, the Marshals Service has stepped up security measures throughout the nation.

In Cape Girardeau, that means more electronic and computerized devices. But Comer said security remains an arduous task because of the building's age.

"This is one of the smallest and oldest offices in the U.S.," he said. "You do with it what you can."

Whether he was transporting federal prisoners in Southeast Missouri, assisting in fugitive apprehension in Chicago or working the World Trade Center bombing case, Comer said he wouldn't trade his deputy's star for anything.

"The history of it is incredible. The work is just good work," Comer said. "It's a historic agency and yet it's an innovative agency."

U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE

-- The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for federal judicial and court security, fugitive investigations, international operations, witness security, prisoner custody transportation and medical care, and management and disposal of seized and forfeited properties.

-- The first 13 U.S. marshals were appointed by President George Washington in 1789. On Sept. 24, marshals will celebrate 210 years of service.

-- Before there was a Department of Justice, U.S. marshals and their deputies performed a wide variety of duties for the government, including taking the Census until 1880.

-- Special Operations Group, a specially-trained tactical unit of marshals who respond to emergencies throughout the nation and U.S. territories within six hours, was created in 1971 to provide support during fugitive manhunts, high-threat trials and civil disturbances. SOG members only respond to calls from the president, vice president or attorney general.

-- Marshals have maintained a "15 Most Wanted Fugitives" list since 1983. Of 146 people whose names have appeared on the list, 131 have been captured.