August 1, 2006
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that the state of Michigan is providing the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department with $500,000 to fund fugitive apprehension by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the Metro Fugitive Task Force in Southeast Michigan.
“I have made a commitment that we will aggressively go after fugitive felons who are responsible for most of the violent crime in Michigan,” Granholm said. “This increased funding supports that commitment and sends a very clear message to these offenders that their behavior will not be tolerated. We will find you, and we will lock you up.”
Since 2004, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has contracted with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office for apprehension of fugitive parole/probation absconders in Wayne County. The contract provides $1 million per year to fund overtime for city and county law enforcement officers and the apprehension of absconders. This $500,000 increase is being awarded to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department to fund additional fugitive apprehension for Southeast Michigan (Wayne, Oakland & Macomb Counties) in cooperation with MDOC agents and other law enforcement officials.
“This additional funding will pay for the law enforcement time of six officers whose core mission will be to track down and lock up high risk parole violators and absconders,” Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans said. “Thanks to Governor Granholm’s leadership, we will be able to prevent a significant amount of new crimes from occurring by taking these offenders off the streets before they have a chance to victimize someone else.”
In Wayne County alone, there are 1,600 known parole violators with active arrest warrants. Approximately half of the $500,000 in additional funding will pay for three new officers (two deputies and one sergeant) with Wayne County’s Fugitive Apprehension Service Team (FAST), which has arrested more than 4,000 parole violators since the unit was created in January 2003.
In March 2006, consistent with the governor’s crime fighting efforts in Southeast Michigan, the sheriffs from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties formed a Metro Fugitive Task Force to go after parole/probation absconders across county lines in an expanded effort. They have apprehended over 160 offenders since launching this initiative, and this expanded financial commitment will cover most of the units’ operating costs by paying for one officer from each county.
“Sheriff Evans has been a leader in crime fighting efforts in Southeast Michigan,” Granholm said. “I am pleased to help support him and other Southeast Michigan law enforcement officers in their very important charge of hunting down these fugitive felons who have completely disregarded the justice system and are placing the lives our citizens in danger.”
Granholm announced that more than three years ago, state officials announced Project S.A.F.E. Streets, a partnership between the Michigan State Police, the Michigan Department of Corrections, and local law enforcement to apprehend dangerous fugitives from justice. Since the program’s inception, nearly 2,100 fugitives (2,099) have been arrested statewide. In the coming weeks, state officials will be meeting to identify additional steps that will be taken statewide to increase resources for those activities.
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