Citizens United to
Find Fugitives
CUFF was founded by an association of individuals who have been
the victims of clever criminals - the kind of people who know how
to manipulate the legal system in order to deceive and steal, then
disappear across state lines into comfortable obscurity. These criminals
have learned not to worry much about the consequences of their acts
because they know the system has to find them first.
And the odds of that happening today in America are exceedingly
slim. But even if they are found, as long as they remain outside
of the jurisdiction that holds the warrant and the warrant is not
extraditable, there is nothing law enforcement can do about it -
a fact known to most fugitives but to very few victims.
After much discouragement and disillusionment, these victims have learned
that the criminal justice system does not offer a quick and easy solution
for finding fugitives. The difficulty of finding at any given time literally
millions of criminal fugitives in 50 states over thousands of miles in
thousands of cities and towns is so monumental that it can easily cause
law enforcement personnel to become fatalistic.
Over and again victims are consoled by well-meaning police who
assure them that the fugitives "will eventually do something
stupid and be caught." While this may be true, how many lives
will they devastate before they are caught?
When a criminal changes his name and/or uses a false ID, it is virtually
impossible for the police or even the FBI to help a citizen identify
this person. This is because in order to search the database of the National
Crime Identification Center - the NCIC, you must have the name, DOB or
Social Security Number of a criminal.
But unfortunately, the professional con man living on the edge
or the felony fugitive living underground rarely provide that kind
of data to their victims. (Straight
Shooter ID No. 583, wanted for attempted murder of police officers,
used a false ID to fool police 10 times over 7 years.)
However, even if a citizen does know the correct name of a fugitive and
reports his exact whereabouts to the police in the municipality where
a warrant was issued, an arrest will not be made if the criminal is out
of the extradition range. These non-extraditable crimes are not just
minor misdemeanor charges.
The charges can range from drug use to theft and fraud. And worse
yet, even if a citizen can verify for the police that a criminal
has a warrant in several states for the same crime, an arrest will
still not be made as long as the fugitive remains just on the other
side of the the extradition border.
When law enforcement enters a fugitive into the NCIC, it means they
are willing to pay to bring the fugitive back from outside their
jurisdiction. Generally, it means extradition from any state, with
some exceptions. Some states, however, have additional requirements
for NCIC warrants.
For example, Washington State will not extradite an out-of-state
fugitive wanted on a probation warrant unless a Washington State
court hears the case, agrees with its merits and then issues a separate
warrant that is valid in Washington. This policy allows the fugitive
ample time to flee the state if he is aware that the police know
about his out-of-state warrant.
But even if a state is willing to cooperate completely with an extradition
warrant, only about 20% of the nation's felony fugitives are listed in
the NCIC. In 1999, that totaled approximately 516,000 felons - up 51%
from 1990. So, 80% of the approximate 2.5 million felony fugitives on
record have an excellent chance of never being picked up for their charges
as long as they steer clear of the state that issued their warrant.
One of the reasons for the low number of fugitives in the NCIC
is the states' limited budgets. They don't have the funding to pay
for the travel expense and paperwork of extraditing their fugitives
from another state. The end result, of course, is that these fugitives
often commit new crimes in other states and, unless the new state
issues an extraditable warrant, the cycle continues.
Because of the difficulty of finding fugitives who really want to
disappear, there are literally millions of criminals who have been
running from felonies for years, some of them for decades, and are
still living free, maybe living next door to you, married to unknowing
spouses and holding jobs. Some of these fugitives are wanted for
murder.
Number 442 in the STRAIGHT SHOOTER database was apprehended by the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in May 2002 - 32 years after escaping
from jail where she had been sentenced to 99 years for the murder
of a store owner during a robbery. During her years on the lam, she
had married three times and, when captured, was living with her most
recent husband of two years, who claimed not to know her true identity.
In a Washington Post interview in May 2000, a U.S. Marshals Service agent
who formerly headed the D.C. Joint Fugitive Task Force of local and federal
law enforcement agencies stated, "You can't walk down the street
today without passing somebody who is wanted."
In an August 2, 2002 TV interview, the attorney general of California,
Bill Lockyer, stated that the public is unrealistically expecting
law enforcement to track down fugitives. He said in California there
are more than 200,000 felony fugitives, more than twice the number
of the state's police personnel. 2,700 of these fugitives are wanted
for murder.
The criminal justice system has spent money and time to charge,
arraign and/or convict these fugitives. It doesn't even matter if
a judge or a jury has heard the evidence and a decision has been
rendered. The system delivered to us by the blood, sweat and tears
of our forefathers, the system that protects the rights of both the
victims and the defendants has worked... except that the defendants
cheated - they got away. And now more money and time must be spent
to find them. And while they are free, many of them will commit more
crimes and harm more innocent victims.
Most people will probably live their entire lives without having
a close encounter with a fugitive. But if you are that rare individual
who finds yourself working or associating with someone who "just
seems suspicious," what do you do? If you go to the local police,
you may be shocked to learn that their internal protocol does not
permit them to divulge to the public the names of people who have
outstanding warrants.
But even if you are fortunate enough to know someone in the police department
who will make an exception for you or you are in a forwarding thinking
municipality that will give you warrant information, you still may not
get to the truth. If the person does not have outstanding warrants in
the NCIC or in your state's wants and warrants database, it is possible
for the person to have an outstanding warrant in one of over 18,000 municipal
jurisdictions in the U.S. And what do you do if the person is
using an alias?
In 1997 in Massachusetts a fugitive named Charles Jaynes was able
to evade apprehension from 75 different warrants in 18 different
jurisdictions until he was finally caught - after murdering a 10-year-old
boy. Surely, there were citizens who at one time or another were
suspicious of this person. Was it not their responsibility to let
the police know about their suspicions? And is it not the responsibility
of the police to take these tips seriously and check them out? If
neither is done, then one thing is inevitable - fugitives will continue
to evade capture.
As a result of the 9/11 tragedy major reforms in the criminal justice
system have taken place, many of which address the fugitive issue. The
FBI is modernizing its technology, including the integration of law enforcement
databases; biometrics, such as facial recognition and retina scanning,
is being implemented in airports and other public arenas; a national
driver's license is being considered; ID chips imbedded under the skin
are even being suggested for parolees and probationers.
Currently, Florida is testing GPS units, worn as ankle bracelets
by sex offenders, which can record the whereabouts of the offender
at any time. And Illinois is testing similar GPS recorders for parolees
and those under house arrest.
But even if law enforcement is able to establish a fool-proof method
for identifying fugitives, current protocol will dictate that it
remain an internal mechanism, not to be shared with the public. Most
law enforcement agencies currently refuse to provide information
on outstanding warrants to anyone calling on the phone.
The only person authorized to access this warrant information is
the fugitive himself. The reasoning is that if a fugitive is not
told that he has an outstanding warrant, one day he might wander
into the police precinct where he will be promptly arrested.
It doesn't require statistics to know that far more fugitives are captured
from citizens' tips than are arrested when they drop by the police department
for one reason or the other only to be surprised with handcuffs by the
duty officer.
Ironically, some of these same police departments have Web sites
that post photos of and details about selected fugitives.
For the sake of all dedicated police officers who risk their lives
daily to protect their communities, we look forward to the reforms
thatwill increase the safety of their jobs as well as improve
the chances of catching fugitives.
However, we know that the public must be able to help them in their
search for fugitives. It is in the best interest of the police and
the public as a whole. And that is why we have created the STRAIGHT
SHOOTER Web site.
We know citizens want to help the police protect them. When TV executives
tried to take America's Most Wanted off the air, the public uproar
quickly changed their minds. Crime Stoppers, Silent Witness and other
crime TIPS programs have for years worked hand-in-hand with law enforcement
with outstanding results. And now, post 9/11, the public's help is
more important than ever as federal agencies shift their funds and
manpower from domestic crime-fighting to Homeland Security.
The Internet offers an incredible opportunity to expose fugitives.
It is a 24-hour-a-day bulletin board accessible anywhere in the world.
All that is required is a fool-proof database that allows a searcher
to find a fugitive regardless of what kind of disguise or alias is
used. That is what CUFF has done. Virtually everything known about
the subject can be entered, from the physical description to detailed
background information. If a fugitive is in the database, a searcher
will find the subject simply by inputting the selected criteria and
then viewing the mug shots.
We have christened our Web site "STRAIGHT SHOOTER" because
a fair-minded, forthright, law-abiding person is often described as a "straight
shooter" - quite the opposite of the fugitives in our database.
And because that's what it will take to resolve the fugitive
crisis - principled people who aim directly at the problem and aren't
afraid to pull the political trigger. Criminal fugitives are enemies
of the people and, as we were cruelly reminded on 9/11/2001, some
enemies try to seriously hurt you - even blow up the building you
are working in.
Mohamed Atta, one of the masterminds of the 9/11 attack, was a fugitive
from justice in Florida when he and his fellow hijackers steered an airliner
into one of the World Trade Center towers. Atta, who had an outstanding
warrant in Broward County, Florida for failing to appear in court in
June 2001 for driving without a license, was actually stopped for speeding
one month later in another Florida county, but his warrant did not appear
in the national, state or county databases.
Because the Delray Beach, Florida police officer who stopped Atta
in July did not know about the outstanding warrant, he was cited
for a traffic violation and sent on his way. His warrant did not
appear in the databases because "If all of them (warrants) were
put in, it would lock down the system," a police captain in
Delray Beach told Associated Press in October 2001.
CUFF is confident that the technology is available today that will
allow all fugitives to be entered into a national database without
locking down the system. The credit reporting agencies manage to
handle tens of millions of records without locking down and so does
the Social Security Administration. The technology is not the problem.
The will to do it is.
The STRAIGHT SHOOTER.Net Web site provides a safe, secure way for Straight
Shooters to help find fugitives: (1) Simply search the database and if
you spot a fugitive whose whereabouts you know, call the listed Contact
or e-mail STRAIGHT SHOOTER and (2) Enter into the database a fugitive
who has harmed you so others may help find the criminal before further
damage is done and so that justice can be obtained.
Anyone may enter a fugitive in the database. All information will be
verified by STRAIGHT SHOOTER to ensure accuracy. All subjects are reviewed
and updated monthly. New entries are published weekly. Photos are available
for most fugitives. Tips can be directed to STRAIGHT SHOOTER or to the
contact listed for the database subject.
The database is not limited only to criminal fugitives. It also contains
child support fugitives, sex offenders, criminal histories, unknown suspects,
persons with unknown identities, unsolved crimes, missing persons and
civil judgments.
The criminal database includes ALL of the fugitives published
on all federal government fugitive Web sites: The FBI's Ten Most Wanted,
the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives, the U.S. Marshal's 15 Most Wanted, the
U.S. Marshal's Major Cases, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Postal Service, the
U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (BATF). It also includes all American fugitives on the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) Web site. Because of the large number
of foreign fugitives on this site, some of them have not been included.
The database also includes fugitives from all 50 states, with charges
ranging from bad check writing to murder.
Each week more fugitives are entered into the database and those that
are apprehended are added to the Round-Up Roster.
CUFF does not have official membership requirements. You may join
by donating or just by caring enough about the fugitive problem to
e-mail us your thoughts.
If you are a fraud victim, you may wish to e-mail us your circumstances
to see if we can help. Here's what we can do: Help
Fraud Victims
Or, if you are a fraud victim who successfully prosecuted or obtained
a judgment against a con artist, you may want to register as a volunteer
for our Fraud
Fighters Force
These are victims with steel backbones who chose to attack rather
than acquiesce. They are willing to share their experiences with
others in the hopes of prosecuting con artists as well as giving
emotional support to the victim.
You may also want to write your legislator urging them to change
the laws that make it difficult to apprehend fugitives. (Fugitive
laws) We all know the old adage: "Those who show up at the
meeting make the rules." A very few people can make a very big
difference simply by caring enough to express their opinion.
We welcome you to STRAIGHT SHOOTER and hope you'll tell your friends
about us. We are here to expose fugitives so that they may be apprehended
and our communities made safe. The more people who view the database
the better the odds of finding the fugitives that are in it. We also
encourage you to call your local police department and ask them if
they are putting their fugitives in the STRAIGHT SHOOTER database
and putting a STRAIGHT SHOOTER link on their Web site. The more public
exposure fugitives have the greater the odds of finding them.
The above info is from Rhoda Cook of the Straightshooter.net
site.
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