If you're a fugitive, they are the guys you don't want at your front door.
If you're the average citizen, you're lucky to have them on your side.
Sr. Inspector Mike Woerner with the U.S. Marshals Service says, "On average we make 50 to 60 arrests a month."
They're the New York New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Albany office is made up of 10 police agencies from around the area, headed by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The group goes after the worst of the worst in the Capital Region.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill O'Toole says, "Most are guns and drugs, but we have murderers, rapes, they all come through here."
Their mornings generally start early when task force members are briefed by local departments. Members are provided a photo, a layout of where they're headed and who they are headed after.
Some arrests seem like smooth sailing but others can be a bit of a challenge.
On one morning, the task force was in Albany looking for a fugitive they say has a history of weapons charges and resisting arrest.
The suspect allegedly ran from his top floor apartment, down the front stairs and busts into one on the first floor.
This is every day.
Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff says, "As has been said in the past, they always get the job done and we rely on them quite a bit."
The Albany Police Department is just one department that depends on the task force and has a detective assigned full time.
Krokoff says, "We know once we make a call to them it is only a matter of time before we have that person in custody."
Local departments depend on the resources and the strategy used by the task force to find their most wanted.
The task force sometimes depends on the public, fugitives aired on
Capital Region's Most Wanted on FOX23 on Saturday nights.
O'Toole says, "A lot of time we don't have much to go on and we are trying to get information. Its also a way for people to be aware that they are out there, wanted and not good people."
Those community calls have lead to the arrests of fugitives as far away as California to right here at home.
Woerner says, "It is a relief that you are done with that case. You got a bad guy and its another number off the wall."
So a warning to that next number, these guys will find you. It is only a matter of time before you hear that knock.
In addition to the violent offenders, the task force, the Marshals are mandated to go after sex offenders who have failed to register in our area. Once in custody, they are charged federally with failure to register.
You can help catch the
Capital Region's Most Wanted, Saturdays at 10 p.m. on FOX23.
