Under Arrest - U is for U.S. Marshal

Picture Source: Wikipedia

Welcome back to A-Z. 

Quick, name a (fictional) U.S. Marshal!

Samuel Gerard.

Whaaaat? You don't remember "the Fugitive"? 

Major 1990s thriller?

Dr. Richard Kimble, played by Harrison Ford,  was wrongfully accused and convicted of killing his wife. He escaped when his fellow prison inmates caused a bus / train crash during their transport to death row. 

Kimble fled to a hospital where he - being a surgeon - treated his wounds and then went off to hunt down the actual killer. All the while Sam Gerard, played by Tommy Lee Jones, and his team are never far behind. 

Here are some of his epic quotes:

Listen up, ladies and gentlemen. Our fugitive has been on the run for 90 minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground, barring injuries, is 4 miles-an-hour. That gives us a radius of six miles. 

What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area. 

Checkpoints go up at fifteen miles. Your fugitive’s name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him.

Good thing Kimble didn't hide in a henhouse ;-)

Instead he  shaved his beard, dyed his hair, got some street clothes and fled in an ambulance.

My favorite scenes are Kimble helping a young patient (actually saving his life) at the hospital and later blending into the St. Patrick's Day parade taking place in the streets of Chicago (here's another great quote from one of Gerard's coworkers: "If they can dye the river green today, why can't they dye it blue the other 364 days of the year?")

So why where U.S. Marshals tasked with an operation like this, why not send regular cops to this scene?

Because chasing down fugitives is one of their main duties. 

What else do they do?

U.S. Marhsals safeguard federal witnesses and transport federal prisoners to and from court and prison. They also protect federal judges and oversee assets that are seized in criminal enterprises. 

U.S. Marshals are involved in the arrest of fugitives from federal charges and also assist  other agencies in apprehending dangerous fugitives. On average they arrest 273 fugitives every day - man, they re busy! 

U.S. Marshals may also be assigned to complete tactical missions within the U.S. and abroad. Agents working for the U.S. Marshals Service have the authority to cross jurisdictional lines, and unlike many other U.S. law enforcement officers, they can receive arrest powers to apprehend fugitives located in other countries. 

So had Scott Peterson fled to Mexico, I guess that's where U.S. Marshals would have come into action - even though I understand Mexican Federales like to carry out their own business.

To become a federal marshal, most candidates must possess a bachelor's degree in a field such as criminal justice, criminology, or law enforcement and one year of specialized experience.

Have you seen the movie? Do you like it? 

Thank you for reading, hope to see you back tomorrow!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay