WMW helping hunt U.S. Marshals top ten fugitives in Western Washington

SEATTLE -- Since it started in 2010, the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force has arrested more 14,000 fugitives and some of those were captured thanks to tips from Washington’s Most Wanted viewers.

Now, the Marshals have identified their top ten most wanted suspects in Western Washington. 

Now, we're kicking off a new emphasis with the U.S Marshals Western District of Washington Fugitive Task Force to show these criminals there's nowhere left to hide.

Jacob Green has spent his career tracking down dangerous fugitives. Now, as the Acting U.S. Marshal for Western Washington, he's created the Western District of Washington Fugitive Task Force Top Ten Most Wanted. "We're talking about murder, we're talking about rape,” said Green. “I've been chasing bad guys for a very long time and when we put something behind it, that this is the Most Wanted or this is a Major Case, it gets the attention of the public and it also lets the victims know that we will not stop until we lock them up.”



Each week, the U.S. Marshals will collaborate with their state, local and federal partners to feature a new case here on Washington's Most Wanted. "Our goal of our Top Ten list is to protect victims and a lot of times when people are victimized, they don't have a voice so the goal of the Marshals Service, with the help of your program is to be the voice of the victims,” said Green.

It's dangerous work tracking down the worst of the worst, so the U.S. Marshals created the Law Enforcement Safety Training Program. "We have 22 agencies, federal, state and local that work with us on a daily basis,” said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Leigh.

So, when task force members are clearing a room, for example, during the search for a high risk fugitive, "We're training for the motivated adversary,” says Leigh.

All of them work in a coordinated fashion even though they come from different law enforcement backgrounds. "A lot of what we do is very dynamic and it's important that in order to mitigate and minimize the risk to our officers as well as the public, we want to ensure that our team members and our task force officers are working fluidly and seamlessly together,” said Leigh.

That means slowing down to ensure the team is working well together, so that when they get a Crime Stoppers tip from a Washington’s Most Wanted viewer, they can act quickly and safely to track down that suspect.

"It doesn't matter how far they go or where they hide, we will not stop until we get them,” said Green.

CLICK HERE to see Western District of Washington U.S. Marshals Top Ten Most Wanted.