Fugitive Apprehension Service Team [FAST]

OLIVER, EVANS MAKE LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO FUGITIVE APPREHENSION BY MAKING F.A.S.T. PERMANENT

In January, Wayne County Sheriff Warren C. Evans and Detroit Police Chief Jerry A. Oliver embarked upon an experiment to see what would happen if they teamed up their officers to address the ongoing fugitive problem in Wayne County. Published reports had indicated that as many as 26,000 violent and non-violent fugitives roam the streets of the county.

The results of their test have been so dramatic that Evans and Oliver today announced they have made their joint Fugitive Apprehension Service Team [FAST] a permanent fixture.

"This announcement represents a significant commitment to fugitive apprehension on the part of DPD and the Sheriff’s Office," said Oliver. "We're in this for the long haul. Clearly, the members of FAST have shown how tremendously successful law enforcement partnerships can be."

Consider this: with 16 Sheriff's deputies working alone to arrest fugitives, they averaged about 600 per year prior to 2003. Since Detroit committed 17 officers of its own [along one each from Livonia, Taylor and the US Marshals Service] to FAST, however, officers have made an astounding 1,270 arrests [1,235 Adult, 35 Juvenile] in six months, quadrupling the previous rate.

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Individuals who have been arrested thus far are charged with a range of crimes, including murder, assault with intent to commit murder, armed robbery, arson, child abuse, as well as many non-violent crimes. A fugitive is anyone for whom an arrest warrant has been issued, but is not in custody, or has been released on bond but failed to appear for court. A fugitive also may be someone who has violated their probation or parole or who has escaped custody from a jail or prison.

Evans and Oliver both say that it is a much smaller portion of the reported 26,000 wanted fugitives, perhaps half, that has been fueling crime in Detroit and Wayne County.

“We have been placing the highest priority on those who have a demonstrated history of violent crime,” Evans said. “When you take as many of these kind of people off the streets as we have in the past six months, you can’t help but see safer communities as a result.”

A Regional Approach
Although a heavy emphasis is placed on the high number of fugitives in Detroit, FAST is a benefit to the entire county. Just last week, the FAST team joined with a dozen suburban police departments in Operation Trackdown, a three-day sweep of people wanted on felony warrants issued by out-county district courts. It is estimated that 75 percent of people wanted on warrants from suburban courts do not reside in that jurisdiction. Without multi-agency cooperation, it is unlikely these people can be caught

During the three day blitz, 109 fugitives were arrested on warrants from cities ranging from Livonia to Westland to Riverview, making it the most fruitful suburban sweep since they began five years ago.

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Good Collars
Of those arrested to date by FAST, many were considered a significant threat to the community, but now are behind bars. Some of the worst offenders picked up are:

• Arrest #201: Randall Atkins – arrested on March 4th, who was listed on Michigan’s Most Wanted for assault with intent to commit murder.
   
• Arrest #496: Antonio Howard – Arrested on April 8th on a charge of Murder.
   
• Arrest #775: Derrick Hamby, 34, of Detroit, who was arrested on May 21st for the execution-style murder of Nathaniel Travis, 27, of Detroit, in March.
   
• Arrest #1,001: Georgette Thornton – Arrested on June 24th on an extradition warrant from Clayton County, GA. Thornton was wanted on charges of murder, aggravated assault and concealing a death.
   
• Arrest #1,027: Reggie Holmes – Arrested on June 29th after he had escaped from Ionia Prison. Holmes had been convicted of numerous felony firearms counts, assault with intent to commit murder and armed robbery.
   
• Arrest #1,220: Christopher Bonarito – Arrested on July 24th, five days after fleeing the scene of an accident in the city of River Rouge that caused the death of a passenger in his vehicle. Bonarito has since been charged with murder.

:: apprehended  fugitives ::

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