Translate[Archived] Question #77: After the Sheriff’s Deputy position dedicated full-time to the U.S. Marshall’s fugitive task force is eliminated, which of the position’s functions will continue/discontinue?
Question:
After the Sheriff’s Deputy position dedicated full-time to the U.S. Marshall’s fugitive task force is eliminated, which of the position’s functions will continue within the Sheriff’s Office or other departments and which functions will be discontinued?
Response:
Functions that will continue:
While some impact of this reduction will be felt, the primary function of the deputy sheriff position: to serve warrants on violent felons, will still be intact. The gaps will need to be filled by the remaining two deputy sheriffs. One unique aspect of this specific deputy sheriff position is that this person was sworn in as a U.S. Marshal, and thus, had all the authorities of a Marshal, such as the ability to cross jurisdictional lines which would no longer be possible. However, the Sheriff’s Office will be able to utilize the support of local jurisdictions in order to execute warrants outside the City of Alexandria.
Functions that will not continue:
The main loss to the Sheriff’s Office as a result of this reduction is the ability to utilize resources and staff provided by the Marshals Service Task Force. For example, the Sheriff’s Office will no longer be able to utilize the Electronic Surveillance Unit or Financial Surveillance Unit, and the Sheriff’s Office does not have the means to create their own unit to perform these functions. In calendar year 2016, the Task Force took assignment of 68 Alexandria warrants and were able to serve 55 of those. The Marshals Service Task Force served high-risk warrants, so this responsibility will now be back on the Sheriff’s Office and they may need to seek assistance from other local jurisdictions. The opinion of the Sheriff’s Office is that most local jurisdictions will not be comfortable assuming that risk. The other function that will not continue is the Sheriff’s Office’s access to federal databases and the Marshal’s Service Fugitive JDIS system.
Follow-up re: APD’s involvement on the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force:
The U.S. Marshals website lists APD as a member of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. However, APD states that their membership concluded in FY 2008 and that the website simply has not been updated. APD does participate in other task forces, and they have several detectives that are deputized, allowing them to cross jurisdictional lines when needed.