The U.S. Marshals Service is the oldest law enforcement agency in the United States . With duties that comprehend most anything that involves federal Margaret Court , federal laws or Union fugitives , the US Marshals Service put up a all-important military service that ’s often overlooked next to large agencies like the FBI and the ATF . Their legendary chronicle admit full stop when they were the only rootage of law and order in certain parts of the nation , and the marshall ’ efforts are just as important today . In this clause , we ’ll face at the story of the U.S. Marshals , what on the dot their line of work implicate , and how the U.S. Marshals are organized .
History
The first prison term the U.S. Congress ever met , they signed into law the Judiciary Act of 1789 . This jurisprudence establish the federal courts and a police force enforcement service to protect them and enforce their conclusion . The U.S. Marshals Service was born .
For much of their existence , the marshals were in a hard position . The conflict between states ’ rights and federal power was always simmer , sometimes boiling and eventually exploding into the Civil War . The marshals were the only representative of Union index in most of the country , and they often had to enforce passing unpopular laws , alienate themselves from their own acquaintance and neighbor . Union taxes , the unconstitutional Alien and Sedition Acts and slave laws all brought marshals into conflict with their fellow Americans . In fact , slavery was a double - abut blade for U.S. Marshals . In the south , they had to enforce proscription on slave significance , plain unpopular with most Southerner . In the north , they had to arrest those who assist head for the hills slave , apply fugitive slave laws that northern abolitionists oppose ferociously .
In the second half of the 19thcentury , the U.S. Marshals made their marking on history , becoming synonymous with the “ Wild West . ” In the lawless frontier towns of the American due west , US Marshals Service were once again the only bastion of Union legal philosophy - or any kind of law and order , for that thing . This time , however , most people welcome the guard and stability a law officer could convey to a townspeople , limiting the activities of the rowdy and sometimes homicidal outlaws that roll the plains . This is the function the marshals are most famous for ; their silver whizz - mold badge a symbolization of the blank - hat expert guys in countless western films . When a marshal needed some redundant man - power , he formed a posse and deputized all local men who were willing to serve .
In the other 20thcentury , the Marshals Service slipped close to obscurity . Though still active in federal case and courts , the armed service was fill up mostly by older police officer come on retreat . They had a repute as out of shape and dim - witted . That changed when Attorney General Frank Murphy took over the Department of Justice . In 1939 he began the process of professionalizing the Marshals Service , update the training and hiring requisite , and better the table service ’s performance , not to name its image .
marshall played primal roles in American history see black pupil to white schooltime in the South when the Supreme Court ordered integrating and tussling with anti - war protesters during the Vietnam era . The modern U.S. Marshals Service is a full of life link in the chain of Union authority .
In 2007 , it was announced that Fort Smith , Arkansas would be the home of the permanent U.S. Marshals Service Museum [ Source : U.S. Marshals ] .
U.S. Marshals' Duties and Responsibilities
The U.S. Marshals are a federal law enforcement agency responsible for the protection of federal courts and enforcement of decision made by those motor hotel .
Protect Courts
U.S.Marshals ensure the security of more than 2,000 evaluator and 400 courthouse across the nation , install and monitoring protection systems , providing personal escorts and watching over high - risk trial [ origin : U.S. Marshals . They also look back suspicious mail send to courthouse and cater security at juridical conference .
Track Down Federal Fugitives
Marshals are tasked with tracking down and collar federal fugitive from justice , as well as assist other law enforcement agencies in the apprehension of state of matter and local fugitives . In 2006 , U.S. Marshals captured 38,000 federal fugitive and lead job forces that captured 46,800 state and local fugitives [ origin : U.S. Marshals ]
Prisoner Transport
The U.S. Marshals manage an airline business devoted solely to transporting captive . The Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System ( JPATS ) facilitate prison - to - prison house transfers , move convicts from view as centers to prison and transport suspects when they are deport for trial . JPATS own or lease a variety of aircraft , bus and caravan to move prisoner - roughly 300,000 of them each year [ Source : U.S. Marshals ] . Not only must the prisoners be moved safely and firmly , they must also keep to strict trial schedules .
Witness Protection
The Witness Security Program ( aka the Federal Witness Protection Program ) protect high - risk of infection looker from reprisal , usually in organized crime trials . This can range from giving the witness and his family a dependable and guarded quickness to live in for the duration of the trial , to providing a new identity in a unlike part of the country to for good “ hide ” them from criminals . The U.S. Marshals have administered this program and protected over 7,500 witnesses and their family since the program ’s inception in 1970 [ Source : U.S. marshall ] . The Marshals claim a perfect succeeder rate , with no witnesses being harmed while under protection as long as all security process were followed .
Asset Seizure
U.S. governance to seize plus used or realise in the committee of certain crimes , most notably drug law-breaking . The cash , cars , boats and homes can then be used or sold off to fund law enforcement initiatives . The U.S. Marshals are responsible for for taking possession of , holding and distributing these clutch assets .
Other Operations
When necessary , U.S. Marshals can be called on to do in any situation where their expertise could be valuable . The Marshals employ a Special Operations Group ; specially trained officers who work like a local law force ’s SWAT team , but at a Union stratum . Marshals have been called in during geological period of civil tempestuousness , such as the L.A. riots .
U.S. Marshals' Organization
The U.S. Marshals Service is part of the Department of Justice , head by a managing director appoint by the president . As of May 2007 , former marshall John F. Clark was the director . The service is headquartered in Arlington , Virginia .
marshal go in one of 94 districts throughout the state - each territory coincide with a federal judicial district , so that each Union court has its own marshal . The U.S. Marshal for a given district is in charge of that district . The other officeholder that work in the territory are deputy marshal and criminal investigators .
The U.S. Marshals Service should n’t be confused with other kinds of US Marshals Service . Marshal is a common title with a variety of uses . Some nation practice it as a military social station . State and local courthouses have their own marshals , a title that fundamentally means ' discriminative certificate guard . ' Air Marshals are especially trained officers who travel on sure airline business flight , remaining underground unless they are needed to quell a disturbance of some sort on the plane .
Formerly , applicants were required to take a limited examination . Today , the Marshals Service uses the Federal Career Intern Program to witness new hire . This is a two - year education and developing programme that can culminate in official hiring into the overhaul if the candidate ’s functioning was equal . Prospective marshals must complete 17 and a one-half weeks of training at the U.S. Marshals Service Training Academy in Glynco , Georgia . Anyone concerned in becoming a U.S. Marshal can find contact information for their local recruiter here : USMarshals.gov .
Notable Marshals
Since the service ’s origination , more than 200 marshals and deputies have died in the line of duty [ author : U.S. Marshals ] . The first was Robert Forsyth , shot and down by two blood brother when he tried to serve courtyard newspaper in 1794 .
The legendaryWyatt Earpwas a U.S. Marshal , as wasWild Bill Hickok . emancipationist and freed striver Frederick Douglass was the U.S. Marshal for Washington , D.C. Marshals have appeared prominently in many works of fiction , let in hundreds of westerns . Tommy Lee Jones play one of the more well - screw fancied marshals in the movie " The Fugitive , " while the moving-picture show " Con Air " give audiences a look at a captive transport procedure lead awry .
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