Topeka, KS – For 10 days in March, the U.S. Marshals and Topeka
Police, working with multiple federal, state and local law enforcement
partners, conducted an operation designed to reduce violent crime and
drug activity in and around Topeka, resulting in 258 arrests.
Operation Frontier Justice was conducted in
partnership with the Topeka Police Department, Shawnee County Sheriff’s
Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, Shawnee County
District Attorney’s Office, Kansas Department of Corrections, Shawnee
County Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In addition to the 258 arrests, 16 of which were
gang members, the operation resulted in the seizure of 24 firearms,
nearly 19 kilograms of narcotics to include marijuana, cocaine,
methamphetamine and heroin and $25,000 in U.S. currency.
Operation Frontier Justice was conducted by
utilizing strategies derived from the U.S. Marshals counter gang model.
These strategies include the targeting and arrest of violent fugitives,
gang members and criminal offenders who have committed violent crimes
such as homicide, shooting into dwellings, felony assault and sexual
assault, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug distribution, and
robbery. Each federal, state and local agency uses its individual
specialized enforcement techniques and statutory authority to disrupt
the criminal operations of violent street gangs and career criminal
offenders in Topeka and surrounding areas.
“Over the past few years, violent crime has been
on the rise in Topeka, especially homicides and shootings,” said Ron
Miller, U.S. Marshal for the District of Kansas. “The U.S. Marshals
Service joined forces with local and state agencies and other Department
of Justice federal law enforcement agencies to try to combat this upward
trend in violence, especially gang violence. We are proud to say that
working together we sought to reduce ongoing violence and gang activity
that we have seen throughout Topeka and Shawnee County. We want the
citizens to know that the federal, state, and local law enforcement
partners are out there working together to make sure our communities are
safer places to live and work.”
Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/usmarshals/807A5h
Video:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/noxheunl68uiusz/Frontier%20Justice%20B-roll.mp4?dl=0
Members of the U.S. Marshals Service
Kansas Fugitive Apprehension Task Force:
- Topeka Police Department
- Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office
- Kansas Highway Patrol
- Kansas Department of Corrections
- ATF
- FBI
- DEA
- U.S. Attorney’s Office
- Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office
- Shawnee County Department of Corrections
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found
at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
####
America’s
First Federal Law Enforcement Agency