William Fallon: Operation Falcon in Full Force

The tens of thousands of arrests occurred despite significant hurdles. Wayne Pike of the U.S. Marshals Service called FALCON 2008 the fifth and most successful iteration of Operation FALCON. Fallon and his team faced significant obstacles such as budget constraints in which the federal government could only minimally cover law enforcement expenses such as travel, overtime and some technology needs.

Pike attributes the ultimate success of the operation to Fallon's push to expand the program nationwide and his ability to connect with colleagues. "Bill built a great coalition using his connections from previous FALCON's and motivating local agencies to get behind the effort. He visited local areas, participated in events, and personally met and talked with the people he would be working with."

Many communities, including big cities, don't always have the manpower and resources to conduct necessary detective work to make the arrests, Fallon explained. Sometimes, he said, they fail to communicate with counterparts in their own states.

"There are thousands of open warrants, and departments just don't have the staff or tools to look for these people. That is where we come in," he said.

Fallon's team built an intra-agency Web site, created task force partnerships for geographic areas, provided briefings across the country and helped develop detailed case files to improve communication. He said the staff at the Marshals Service searched databases of outstanding warrants to find addresses and other information used to find fugitives.

"Once these local law enforcement agencies are on board and see how we work, they are all for it and we become partners for life," said Fallon.

Michael Earp, Assistant Director of the Marshals Service, said Fallon and his team were "great in bringing people on board early, giving them plenty of time to get organized and not just launching the operation without input."

"These guys are totally committed, away from families seven days a week and working from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.," he said. "There were over 19,000 arrests and there were no deaths or serious injuries to the law enforcement personnel."

This article was jointly prepared by the Partnership for Public Service, a group seeking to enhance the performance of the federal government, and washingtonpost.com. Visit www.ourpublicservice.org for more about the organization's work to recognize the men and women who serve our nation.