U.S. Marshals National Operation Nets 986 Violent Felons in New York City

New York – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested 4,455 violent fugitives during the latest phase of its high-impact fugitive apprehension initiative, dubbed Operation North Star III (ONS III). Encouraged by the success of earlier phases, ONS III was broadened to target violent offenders in 20 cities and resulted in the clearance of 3,818 violent warrants, to include homicide, forcible sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and firearms violations. In New York City (NYC), the USMS New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force (NY/NJ RFTF) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) are leading the country in this multi-agency effort apprehending 323 and 663 fugitives, respectively. They partnered twenty-four hours a day to target and apprehend 986 fugitives while seizing 5 firearms, compounding their efforts with direct support from NY State Police, NY State Parole, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), NYC Corrections, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn District Attorney Office, NYC Department of Investigations, and the US Postal Inspection Service.

Marshal Ralph Sozio, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York said, “This was an extremely successful month-long RFTF operation requiring precise tactical and timely coordination with multiple agencies and jurisdictions. I want to thank the NYPD Fugitive Enforcement Division, and all of our law enforcement partners, whose unwavering dedication made this mission successful in locating and arresting our most violent offenders quickly and without incident.  As a law enforcement community, we work together to protect the community we serve, and Operation North Star is a testament to this tremendous effort.”

U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of New York Vincent DeMarco said, “The goal of Operation North Star was not only to take violent fugitives off of the streets of New York City but to listen and speak to the community about the United States Marshals Service goals and policies that are used to address violent crime. The results show that we succeeded.”