Topeka, KS – For 10 days in March, the U.S. Marshals and Topeka Police, working with multiple federal, state and local law enforcement partners, conducted an operation designed to reduce violent crime and drug activity in and around Topeka, resulting in 258 arrests.

Operation Frontier Justice was conducted in partnership with the Topeka Police Department, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, Kansas Department of Corrections, Shawnee County Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In addition to the 258 arrests, 16 of which were gang members, the operation resulted in the seizure of 24 firearms, nearly 19 kilograms of narcotics to include marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin and $25,000 in U.S. currency.

Operation Frontier Justice was conducted by utilizing strategies derived from the U.S. Marshals counter gang model. These strategies include the targeting and arrest of violent fugitives, gang members and criminal offenders who have committed violent crimes such as homicide, shooting into dwellings, felony assault and sexual assault, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug distribution, and robbery. Each federal, state and local agency uses its individual specialized enforcement techniques and statutory authority to disrupt the criminal operations of violent street gangs and career criminal offenders in Topeka and surrounding areas.

“Over the past few years, violent crime has been on the rise in Topeka, especially homicides and shootings,” said Ron Miller, U.S. Marshal for the District of Kansas. “The U.S. Marshals Service joined forces with local and state agencies and other Department of Justice federal law enforcement agencies to try to combat this upward trend in violence, especially gang violence. We are proud to say that working together we sought to reduce ongoing violence and gang activity that we have seen throughout Topeka and Shawnee County. We want the citizens to know that the federal, state, and local law enforcement partners are out there working together to make sure our communities are safer places to live and work.”

You can see photos and video by clicking on links below.

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/gp/usmarshals/807A5h
Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/noxheunl68uiusz/Frontier%20Justice%20B-roll.mp4?dl=0

Members of the U.S. Marshals Service Kansas Fugitive Apprehension Task Force:

• Topeka Police Department
• Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office
• Kansas Highway Patrol
• Kansas Department of Corrections
• ATF
• FBI
• DEA
• U.S. Attorney’s Office
• Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office
• Shawnee County Department of Corrections

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

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