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Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt?

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 01:47:26 PM EST
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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today held a press conference to proudly announce the capture of 10,000 fugitives as the result of a week-long project called Operation Falcon.

Officials acknowledge the decision to provide such a massive show of force at one time was expected to prompt publicity and help highlight the mission.

Blogenlust says:

You don't just find and capture 10,000 fugitives in a week, because if it was that easy, we probably wouldn't have had 10,000 to catch, right? What am I missing? Bueller?

Oh, and wouldn't it be great if we could set up a week long dragnet called Operation FIND OBL. Imagine how successful that would be!

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    • Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? | 27 comments (27 topical)
    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 02:01:21 PM EST
    What a nice, neat tidy number 10,000 is! Rather like, "I hold in my hand --fill in the number of your choice--names of communist, er--bad group of the week." Really? Not 10,001 or 9,999?

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#2)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 02:14:21 PM EST
    "The dragnet coincided with Crime Victims Rights Week." How convenient!

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 02:24:36 PM EST
    Crazy how you can just find 10k fugitives during Crime Victims Rights Week! BTW, the blogenlust link is wrong. [Ed. Thanks, I just fixed it.]

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#4)
    by Darryl Pearce on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 02:25:58 PM EST
    ...does this mean John Ashcroft was doing a bad job?

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 02:51:27 PM EST
    yeah, it was a publicity stunt. whatever.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 02:57:03 PM EST
    Well, then I guess we should not have captured them ( Is the AG in charge of the hunt for Bin Laden? )

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 04:07:22 PM EST
    Good job LEO's!!!! We apprehended quite a few in Florida as well!! Makes the citizens here VERY happy! Let's face it, a captured fugitive is the best kind of fugitive! Keep up the good work!

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 05:43:13 PM EST
    was dr. richard kimble in that batch?

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 05:45:42 PM EST
    Can you say centralization of power? And as usual someone has already commented that "this is a good thing because it took criminals off the streets." It may look good now....but the shiny newness of it will wear off shortly and then it probably won't seem like such a wonderful thing anymore. The whole thing stinks to high heaven.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 06:21:40 PM EST
    Centralization of power? using local law enforcement to serve federal warrants - is that new? Really, leave the bad folk on the streets - if they dont have felony convictions they'll be able to vote

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 08:46:15 PM EST
    The story above and another today show that it is becoming harder to avoid culpability in the Age of Accountability. The first involves the 10,000 violent fugitives who were rounded up in one week by federal, state and local law enforcement officials. This is quite impressive considering there is no central database for warrants and the fact that many fugitives turn to identity theft to hide from the law. The second story discusses how it has become harder for the wealthy to avoid paying federal taxes by hiding their money in offshore island tax havens. One factor mentioned is improved information sharing between Caribbean countries and the U.S.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#13)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 08:49:01 PM EST
    10K? Sounds like a normal day in a country where almost everything is illegal.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#14)
    by Bob on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 09:04:04 PM EST
    This mainly theory Falcon is a trial run for purging of the left. The conservatives they hate the liberals with a passion. They want them out of country out of politics. Falcon was just a trial run to see if a mass raid can be accomplished. The conservatives in future will conduct a mass raid on the liberal leaders. 10,000 liberals in hand cuffs for questioning the status quo. Becareful liberals because the conservatives are coming for you

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#15)
    by Darryl Pearce on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 10:39:07 PM EST
    Thanks, Bob, for the scaring the bejeebers out of me. With the Bill of Rights (except the 2nd Amendment) being reduced and my perusings of the Orcinus blog, you've really got me going... heh, heh... uh-oh, boy...~~~

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 10:44:22 PM EST
    What do all of these feds do the other 51 weeks of the year?

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 14, 2005 at 10:50:52 PM EST
    Rest?

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 05:26:10 AM EST
    All this implies surveillence of the individuals...which means their whereabouts were known prior to their capture...which means that the locations of the more dangerous of the felons were known. Why wait to remove them from the scene when waiting could give the more violent and dangerous of them a chance to strike again? It's said that Harry Anslinger, father of marijuana prohibition, secretly planned to round up those he considered moral reprobates (jazz musicians were at the top of his list) that had kept files on (like his better known contemporary J. Edgar Hoover) in one fell swoop; Gonzalez obviously has achieved Anslinger's wet dream. While our southern borders remain porous and there have been reports of al-Qaida members learning to speak Spanish. The more I see of this Administration, the more I am reminded of Jimmy Breslin's hilarious classic "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight." Or maybe "Wrong Way" Corrigan. The wrong thing, at the wrong time, at the wrong place, for the wrong reason.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#19)
    by Bob on Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 06:43:10 AM EST
    Darryl Pearce. Bill of rights, you are concerned about that. Dude look around america the conservatives call Harrry Reid an obstrutor or something along that line. The ALCU is labeled as a terrorrist orginzation. The moral decay of this country and the death wave is blamed all on the liberals. 9/11 is blamed on the liberals. In my eyes these issues are is the inital stages of the purge of the left, You just can't purge your opponents with out a reason. It's only a matter of time until the majority agrees with the GOP. The GOP controls talk radio,network TV and cable tv, The GOP message is being heard by the masses. If you were to make a comparrsion of the rise of radical christian right and rise of conservative media outlets, You can see how effective the message is. Conservative don't believe in freedom its all about control. Have you noticed there leaders are above the laws of country. Delay dissolves house ethics committe. Bush refuses to meet with 9/11 panel under oath. Senator Frisk can perform video tape diagnosis when comes to saying some is not in a vegetatived state, Have see medical revoking his medical licence.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 11:41:24 AM EST
    How do you round up 10,000 fugitives in one week unless you're misrepresenting something... This stinks of publicity. You don't just round up 10,000 fugitives - they've managed to escape the law for an untold amount of time, they're not going to magically appear in a jail cell or shoot up a "fugitive here" flare on Crime Victims' Rights Week. Either the 10,000 number is the number of felony arrests made across the country during the week during the normal course of business - all conveniently Federalized - or we already knew where these 10,000 were.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#21)
    by chris on Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 08:57:51 PM EST
    These were outstanding federal, state and local warrants. The collective effort was to nab as many as possible with the limited resources available. When they break into your house and take your things, would you complain so much? These folks busted their balls to get as many of thesed deadbeats off the streets. Too bad the cops don't have unlimited budgets liket the criminals.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#22)
    by chris on Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 08:59:55 PM EST
    These were outstanding federal, state and local warrants. The collective effort was to nab as many as possible with the limited resources available. When they break into your house and take your things, would you complain so much? These folks busted their balls to get as many of thesed deadbeats off the streets. Too bad the cops don't have unlimited budgets like the criminals. Maybe if we quit giving welfare money to the siphons of society we wouldn't have to worry about the security of our homes.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 11:53:31 PM EST
    If you pro-prison industrial complex types check out the Operation Falcon federal marshalls site you'll see that them and the media are both lying about the idea that they were mostly violent criminals who were caught up. Out of 10,3?? approximately 3200 of them were taken in for violent crimes while 7,000 were caught up in the neet for non-violent offenses. About 4300 were drug-related and non-violent! The media and the feds are lying when they say that it was only violent criminals or mostly violent criminals. check out the statistics on the federal marshalls site!!! they also say that 71% had prior violence-related arrests..that is "prior" which means they weren't arrested for violence this time! get real, i bet you all thought we live in a democracy of some sort! i bet you even thought they were telling the truth! Maybe this is the new draft, maybe they were runninglow on prison-labor, maybe there were too many black and brown folks running around loose! Wake -up! http://www.usmarshals.gov/falcon/

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 16, 2005 at 01:36:42 AM EST
    Most were for DUI'S, non court apparance, bail jumping over family matters like non payment for the kids, about 9900 were nothing crimes. it was a show for the population. but its a political move by bush to set a stage for the real mass round-up's some day, with you in the mesh/net to "screen you for any wrong thinking political ideals".

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 16, 2005 at 01:15:36 PM EST
    I saw this on the morning news shows yesterday, and I must say I found it chilling. There were lots of cameras around when some of those arrests were made, to watch the breaking down of doors, the handcuffing, etc. - definitely a publicity stunt in that sense. Why wait to do them all in one week? To show that they can round up a whole lot of people at once. In Iraq when the troops do this, those people are on their way to Abu Garabe, and most of them haven't done anything wrong.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#26)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 08:33:52 AM EST
    How does this fit in with Operation Cable Splicer? What about the, is it Rex "84"? I think when everyone realizes gas is running out they are going to freak and the government is going to arrest half the population and send them to these Operation Cable Splicer work camps. I hope a lot of people are writing their local newspapers about this. Poor dumb people. Poor dumb middle income people. Help!

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 02:35:14 PM EST
    Did a few of the truly dangerous fugitives get off for longer just so they could be part of the massive round up? It would seem as if they would want to jail offenders as soon as possible and not let their list buffer up.

    Re: Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? (none / 0) (#28)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 21, 2005 at 10:17:12 PM EST
    It's later than you think folks! Troops are overseas and will return to die a slow death from depleted uranium munitions {Over half of those that returned from the first Gulf War are currently on some sort of medical disability -www.traprockpeace.org); We are being invaded from the south by millions of illegal aliens every year; The concentration and detainee camps are in place; The media is the propaganda machine of your corporate government and is totally controlled by only three corporations; The US has the largest prison population per capita in the world; Cameras are everywhere; Secret Courts have been established and new laws are being passed that deny what is left of your civil and constitutional rights; Congress is solidifying the logistics for the national ID card NOW!; Militarization of Law Enforcement is proceeding at a record pace; Plans are in the making to institute a mandatory national draft; People are being poisoned by vaccinations and the pharmaceutical companies are killing many of your family members in record numbers and profiting from it; The US has been exporting terror across the globe and is currently the largest illegal drug dealer on the planet - and yet most of you can't wait to find out who will be the next American Idol!

    Operation FALCON: Publicity Stunt? | 27 comments (27 topical)