The offices of U.S. Marshals and Deputy Marshal were created by the first Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789, the same legislation that established the Federal judicial system. The Marshals were given extensive authority to support the federal courts within their judicial districts and to carry out all lawful orders issued by judges, Congress, or the president.
As a balance to this broad grant of authority, Congress imposed a time limit on the tenure of Marshals, the only office created by the Judiciary Act with an automatic expiration. Marshals were limited to four-year, renewable terms, serving at the pleasure of the president.
Until the mid-20th century, the Marshals hired their own Deputies, often firing the Deputies who had worked for the previous Marshal. Thus, the limitation on the Marshal's term of office frequently extended to the Deputies as well.
Their primary function was to support the federal courts. The Marshals and their Deputies served the subpoenas, summonses, writs, warrants and other process issued by the courts, made all the arrests and handled all the prisoners. They also disbursed the money. The Marshals paid the fees and expenses of the court clerks, U.S. Attorneys, jurors and witnesses. They rented the courtrooms and jail space and hired the bailiffs, criers, and janitors. In effect, they ensured that the courts functioned smoothly.
Inspired by the rich history of the Marshals Service, Donald V. Crowley created the painting "Justice" as a tribute to the U.S. Marshals Service's 200 anniversary in 1989. © 1989 The Greenwich Workshop, Inc., Trumbell, CT 06611
The Marshals took care of the details, thereby freeing the judges and attorneys to concentrate on the cases before them. They made sure the water pitchers were filled, the prisoners were present, the jurors were available and the witnesses were on time.
But this was only a part of what the Marshals did. When George Washington set up his first administration and the first Congress began passing laws, both quickly discovered an inconvenient gap in the Constitutional design of the government. It had no provision for a regional administrative structure stretching throughout the country. Both the Congress and the Executive were housed at the national capital.
No agency was established or designated to represent the federal government's interests at the local level. The need for a regional organization quickly became apparent. Congress and the President solved part of the problem by creating specialized agencies, such as customs and revenue collectors, to levy the tariffs and taxes. Yet, there were numerous other jobs that needed to be done. The only officers available to do them were the U.S. Marshals and their deputies.
Thus, the Marshals also provided local representation for the Federal government within their districts. They took the national census every 10 years through 1870. They distributed presidential proclamations, collected a variety of statistical information on commerce and manufacturing, supplied the names of government employees for the national register and preformed other routine tasks needed for the central government to function effectively.
Over the past 200 years, Congress and the president also called on the Marshals to carry out unusual or extraordinary missions such as; registering enemy aliens in time of war, capturing fugitive slaves, sealing the American border against armed expeditions aimed at foreign countries and swapping spies with the Soviet Union.
(Link: https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/broad_range.htm)
In the 1980's the U.S. Marshals Service inaugurated the use Fugitive Investigative Strike Teams, referred as FIST operations, to capture violent fugitives that were wanted by Federal and local law enforcement agencies.
The goal of a FIST operation was to locate and arrest a large number of fugitives in a particular region, within a relatively brief period, by focusing the resources of local, state, and Federal law enforcement agencies. Non-federal officers were specially deputized by the Marshals Service enabling them to cross city, county, and state boundaries with full arrest powers.
When the Attorney General transferred responsibility for the investigation of certain Federal fugitives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Marshals Service in October 1979, fugitive operations began to come alive throughout the Service.
As a result, 105 Deputies were selected for advanced training as Enforcement Specialists dedicated to overseeing the investigation and apprehension of Federal fugitives within their respective Districts and nationwide.
Subsequently the Marshals Service developed the Fugitive Investigative Strike Team (FIST) concept. This method was designed to augment the resources of District fugitive squads experiencing an increased case load, and to focus efforts on areas where intelligence indicates the existence of a significant number of fugitives from justice.
FIST utilized a team of investigators which could be quickly mobilized to respond to any District in the country. Its objectives are to reduce the case backlog and apprehend as many fugitives as possible within the target District in the shortest possible time.
The effort focused on U.S. Marshals Service "Class 1" violators - escaped federal prisoners, bail jumpers, parole violators and probation violators.
Part of the unprecedented challenge and change which the Marshals Service encountered during the early 1980's was the ability to respond to the Administration's demand for a step up in law enforcement. A portion of the Service's response to this challenge was the development of the Fugitive Investigative Strike Team (FIST) concept.
The first FIST operation was designed as a pilot project to focus on fugitive felons. The objectives were to reduce case backlogs and to apprehend as many fugitives as possible within the largest District in the shortest possible time, yet remain cost effective. On October 6, 1981, FIST I began in the Southern District of Florida (Miami). The large volume of drug trafficking and violence-related crimes concentrated in that area indicated that Miami was the city most urgently in need of FIST.
After five weeks the operation concluded with the arrest of 76 fugitive felons. An analysis showed that 55 percent of the fugitives arrested had a criminal history involving narcotics. Prior arrests of these 76 fugitives totaled 491 criminal incidents, or an average of six previous crimes per arrestee.
The success of FIST I prompted the Department of Justice and the Marshals Service to continue this type of operation in another location. FIST II was conducted in Los Angeles, California from early December 1981 to early February 1982. This nine-week investigative effort resulted in the arrest of 102 fugitive felons and included the clearing of 35 state and local fugitive cases in the Los Angeles area.
Marshals Service analysis showed 28 percent of the arrestees had previously been involved in narcotics trafficking. The other arrestees had criminal records for other offenses which included homicide, bank robbery, kidnapping, assault, armed robbery, alien smuggling and counterfeiting. The combined history of these arrestees totaled 865 prior felony arrests. At the conclusion of FIST II, the Marshals Service examined the feasibility of a FIST operation involving state and local law enforcement authorities. Many fugitives sought by the Marshals Service are also sought by state and local authorities for other crimes. The success of FIST I and II was due, in a large part, to the cooperation and involvement of state and local law enforcement officers.
The operation of FIST III was conducted in the multi-judicial District New York City metropolitan area, starting April 13, 1982 and continuing for ten weeks. FIST III incorporated the active participation of the New York City Police Department.
Using an abandoned warehouse on the East River as its headquarters, Marshals and NYPD investigators arrested 303 fugitive felons. Prior offenses of these arrestees totaled over 3,000.
FIST IV focused on fugitives in the Washington, D.C. area. The operation, which was conducted jointly by the United States Marshals Service and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department between September 7 through November 18, 1982.
This FIST operation was also composed of 29 representatives of the Special Operations Division of the Maryland Police and an equal number of Marshals Service investigators from around the nation. FIST IV concluded with a total of 614 actual arrests and 772 warrants cleared.
The participation of state and local governments was expanded for FIST V in mid 1983 during a ten-week operation throughout Michigan. During this FIST, combined teams of federal, state and local investigators cleared 1,156 felony warrants, 928 by actual physical arrest.
FIST VI culminated a unique effort which concentrated on arresting fugitives throughout the State of California. The conclusion of the ten-week operation, which resulted in 2,116 arrests. Of those arrested 79 percent had been involved in crimes of violence or drug offenses and a total of 2,689 cases were closed as a result of the arrests. The operation utilized the resources of more than 20 California state and local law enforcement agencies which made up half of the 120- member FIST VI group.
The conclusion of FIST VII was announced by the Attorney General on November 20, 1984 before national and international media representatives in a press conference at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He termed FIST VII "the largest and most successful fugitive manhunt in law enforcement history." The operation was conducted throughout eight eastern states over an eight-week period and resulted in the arrest of 3,309 fugitive felons. The operation was a result of the combined efforts of 49 state and local law enforcement agencies under the coordination of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The FIST VII task force was made up of 1 13 Marshals Service personnel, five agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and 107 state and local law enforcement officers from Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The apprehended fugitives had a composite criminal history of 12,440 felonies, with a per fugitive average of nearly four known prior arrests and convictions.
Commenting on the conclusion of the record-breaking FIST VII operation, Former Marshals Service Director Stanley E. Morris said, "Fugitives are a major contribution to the high crime rate in this country, as they typically commit additional crimes in order to remain fugitives from justice. Many state and local law enforcement agencies are unable to actively seek fugitives simply due to a lack of resources.
During this FIST operation, 95 percent were arrested on state or local warrants. Through FIST operations we are bringing about an awareness of this serious problem. By combining federal, state and local law enforcement officers, a FIST team can free manpower to concentrate exclusively on the apprehension and arrest of fugitives."
As in previous operations, FIST VII utilized "scams" to apprehend a number of fugitives. These included a package-delivery scam under the identification of the "Brooklyn Bridge Delivery Service," job offers from "Prior Offenders Employment Opportunities," and one in which younger fugitives were attracted by a "Prize Offer" of free tickets to a rock concert, complete with dinner for two and the use of a limousine for the evening.
The continued overwhelming success and highly professional execution of the first seven FIST operations was obvious not only from the more than 7,000 fugitives arrested, but also from the continued record of no subjects or law enforcement officers being seriously injured or killed in any of the operations. William French Smith, former Attorney General, praised the efforts of all involved in the FIST VII operation when he stated, "This successful operation demonstrates our unwillingness to allow fugitives from justice to remain outside the system where they may, and do, prey upon innocent Americans. Fugitives must be arrested and returned to the point in the system from which they fled. Then, and only then, can justice be done."
The United States Marshals Service, 38 Florida law enforcement agencies and 12 foreign countries captured 3,816 fugitives in the eighth FIST operation in the spring of 1985.
Law enforcement personnel based in Miami, with teams set up in Pompano Beach, Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, and Jacksonville, nabbed 48 accused or convicted murderers, 20 kidnappers, 61 rapists, 167 robbers and 593 major narcotics traffickers. Forty-eight weapons were seized, including handguns, shotguns, rifles and machine guns.
The Caribbean command site was located in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, with Marshals Service personnel operating in Antigua, Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Aruba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and Puerto Rico.
Another element of FIST VIII that differed from past operations was the inclusion of the Services' Special Operations Group (SOG) as an operational element at the Miami site.
FIST IX included 31 state and local law enforcement agencies from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, along with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and the former U.S Border Patrol, and the Mexican Federal Judicial Police. The FIST teams, comprised of Deputy U.S. Marshals and officers of the other agencies, operated out of eight U.S. cities and five in Mexico.
During eight weeks of operation and following months of preparation and planning, the FIST 9 teams conducted fugitive investigations from operational sites in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; San Diego, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico; El Paso, San Antonio, McAllen and Houston, Texas; and the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Juarez, Matamoras, and Mexico City.
Nine FIST operations were conducted between 1981-1986 and were responsible for more than 14,700 arrests. The fugitives' criminal records included murder, robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking and counterfeiting, among others.
(Link: https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/fist/index.html)
Time Line of History
2016
The U.S. Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency. Federal marshals have served the country since 1789, often in unseen but critical ways. The Marshals Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. It is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative. Presidentially appointed U.S. marshals direct the activities of 94 districts — one for each federal judicial district.
Judicial Security
Since 1789, the U.S. Marshals Service has been the enforcement arm of the federal courts and has been responsible for protecting the federal judicial process. The agency ensures the safe and secure conduct of judicial proceedings at approximately 440 locations in 94 federal court districts and provides protection for federal judges, other court officials, jurors, the visiting public and prisoners.
The Threat Management Center provides a national 24/7 response capability to review and respond to threats against the judiciary. The Marshals also manage contracted security services inside federal court facilities, which are funded by the judicial branch’s court security appropriation. The agency oversees the daily operation and management of security services performed by approximately 5,000 court security officers within the 94 U.S. District Courts and 12 circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Fugitive Operations
The U.S. Marshals Service is the federal government’s primary agency for fugitive investigations. The Marshals have the broadest arrest authority among federal law enforcement agencies. The Marshals provide assistance to state and local agencies in locating and apprehending their most violent fugitives.
The Service arrests 273 fugitives every day on average.
U.S. Marshals task forces combine the efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate and arrest the most dangerous fugitives. Task force officers are state and local police officers that receive special deputations with the Marshals. While on a task force, these officers can exercise U.S. Marshals authorities, such as crossing jurisdictional lines.
U.S. Marshals work with the international law enforcement community to apprehend fugitives abroad as well as to seek foreign fugitives living or residing in the United States. The U.S. Marshals “15 Most Wanted” fugitive program draws attention to some of the country’s most dangerous and high-profile fugitives. These fugitives tend to be career criminals with histories of violence, and they pose a significant threat to public safety.
Asset Forfeiture
The Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program is a key component of the federal government’s law enforcement efforts to combat major criminal activity by disrupting and dismantling illegal enterprises, depriving criminals of the proceeds of illegal activity, deterring crime and restoring property to victims.
The U.S. Marshals Service plays a critical role in identifying and evaluating assets that represent the proceeds of crime as well as efficiently managing and selling assets seized and forfeited by DOJ. The Marshals Service manages a wide array of assets, including real estate, commercial businesses, cash, financial instruments, vehicles, jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles, vessels and aircraft. Proceeds generated from asset sales are used to operate the program, compensate victims and support various law enforcement efforts.
Prisoner Operations
The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for the custody of federal prisoners beginning at the time of remand and ending when prisoners are acquitted, arrive at a designated Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a sentence or are otherwise ordered released from Marshals custody.
The Marshals Service ensures the safe, humane care of federal prisoners in its custody. The agency provides housing, medical care and transportation for federal prisoners throughout the U.S. and its territories and brings prisoners to their court-ordered appearances.
All individuals arrested on federal offenses are brought before a U.S. magistrate or U.S. district court judge for their initial court appearances. The court determines if they are to be released on bond or remanded into the custody of the Marshals Service to await trial.
The Marshals Service does not own or operate detention facilities but partners with state and local governments through intergovernmental agreements to house approximately 60 percent of our prisoners. In addition, the agency contracts with private facilities and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for prisoner housing, with both sources housing approximately 20 percent each of Marshals prisoners.
Prisoner Transportation
The U.S. Marshals’ Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System transport prisoners between judicial districts and correctional institutions in the U.S.
Witness Security
The U.S. Marshals Service operates the federal Witness Security Program, sometimes referred to as the “Witness Protection Program.” The Witness Security Program provides for the security, safety and health of government witnesses and their authorized family members, whose lives are in danger as a result of their cooperation with the U.S. government.
Witnesses and their families typically get new identities with documentation.
The Witness Security Program has successfully protected an estimated 18,600 participants from intimidation and retribution since the program began in 1971.
(Link: https://www.usmarshals.gov/duties/factsheets/overview.pdf)