STOCKTON, CA - On Thursday, Stockton City Hall announced a partnership with the U.S Marshals Service that would put five Marshals deputies in Stockton and execute a joint gang task force to get the top ten fugitives off city streets.
In previous years, U.S. Marshals have partnered with Stockton police and sheriff's deputies on gang and parole busts, the last fugitive sweep was conducted in July 2011.
So how is the U.S. Marshals Service partnership with Stockton law enforcement different from previous operations?
"We went in and made a lot of arrests in July, 117 arrests in four or five days. And then, we left," U.S. Marshal Albert Najera said.
"It's not a question of doing something new, because after all it's catching fugitives, the difference is how much time we're going to spend with Stockton law enforcement and this will be a continuous effort."
The focus of the Marshals Service operations in Stockton and surrounding areas will be on arresting notorious and violent gang members. The investigations, interviews and search warrants will still be the responsibility of Stockton police and San Joaquin County Sheriff's deputies.
"The Marshal Service is fugitive hunters," Najera said. "That is what we do in the task force. We do nothing else, but we're really good at it."
The U.S. Marshals deputies will not be relocating to Stockton or opening a district office in the valley, but will be given office space. The Marshals deputies will be commuting down from Sacramento on a regular, full-time schedule and hitting the streets immediately.
"When they're not making the arrests, they'll catch people the old fashioned way, knock on doors and talk to people," Najera said.
In addition to the five U.S. Marshal deputies working in Stockton, a Stockton police officer will soon become a U.S. Marshal deputy who will primarily work out of Stockton.
Najera said the partnership is ready to begin work in Stockton.
It is the first city partnership of its kind in the U.S. Marshals California eastern district.
News10/KXTV