ow-key roundup nets 312 Valley fugitives
43 commentsby JJ Hensley - Jul. 7, 2008 12:38 PM
The Arizona Republic
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio generated a lot of attention when more than 230 deputies and volunteer posse members went into Mesa 11 days ago on another high-profile crime-suppression operation, but at the same time, a group of several hundred law enforcement agents- including some from Arpaio's office- were quietly conducting a roundup of its own.

The results of the effort, known as Operation Falcon, released in a Monday morning press conference, show the value of agencies making a concerted effort to target repeat offenders, a group of law enforcement officials said.

"To go after people we have been focusing on for the last few years is certainly an appropriate use of our resources," said Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris. "That's the kind of enforcement activity that will result in a reduction in the crime rate and making our community safer."

The weeklong effort involved 154 law enforcement agents and resulted in 312 arrests, including a pair of men who Mexican police picked up on murder warrants out of Los Angeles. The campaign, now in its fourth year, also netted more than 150 narcotics suspects and 10 sex offenders, according to the U.S. Marshal's Office.

Arpaio and representatives from the Sheriff's Office didn't make the press conference, but the sheriff's presence was felt as officials drew the distinction between targeting certain fugitives and "flooding" an area with law enforcement agents in the hopes of ensnaring lawbreakers.

As with prior operations organized through the Marshal's office, Arpaio committed deputies and resources to the effort, as did 40 other agencies around the state.

Analysts with the Marshal's Office began combing through nearly 3,000 felony warrants from around the state a couple of months ago, said David Gonzales, U.S. Marshal in Arizona. The group narrowed the thousands of warrants down to the 300 most significant offenders who they could identify and develop quality leads on.

Detectives and agents then fanned out across the state in groups of eight-to-10 during the last week of June and picked up as many fugitives as they could find.

Though the targeted effort ended at the end of June, the work of the U.S. Marshal's task force, the Department of Public Safety's new Violent Criminal Apprehension Team and other collaborative efforts to make a dent in the estimated 40,000 felony warrants open in Maricopa County will continue, officials vowed.

"We will be back," said Glendale assistant Police Chief Preston Becker.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 07-ON.html