FBI's Most Wanted – Incredible History of the Innovative Program E-Book
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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- Herausgeber: Madison & Adams Press
- Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and William Kinsey Hutchinson who were discussing ways to promote capture of the FBI's "toughest guys". For sixty years, the FBI has sought the public's assistance in a special way through one of our most effective and longest running publicity programs, which, since 1950, has led to the location of more than 460 of our nation's most dangerous criminals. Content: FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" Program: The Beginnings Today The Program Criteria for Placement on the List The List Removal from the List How the FBI Gets Its Men and Women: A 20-Year Study of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" Program 1989-2009 Today's "Top Ten" List More Likely to Include Terrorist, Organized Crime Figures and Child Predators "Top Tenners" Cannot Hide for Long Many Fugitives Found far from Home "Top Ten" Fugitives Increasingly Caught Through Publicity Conclusion Project Pin Point Project Welcome Home America's Most Wanted Famous Cases: Thomas James Holden William Raymond Nesbit Isaie Beausoleil Clyde Edward Laws James Earl Ray Richard Lee Tingler, Jr. Ruth Eisemann-Schier Theodore Robert Bundy Eric Robert Rudolph Warren Jeffs Service Martyrs
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FBI’s Most Wanted – Incredible History of the Innovative Program
Table of Contents
Message from the Director
For sixty years, the FBI has sought the public’s assistance in a special way through one of our most effective and longest running publicity programs— the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. In 1949, reporter James Donovan asked the FBI to identify the “toughest guys” we were investigating at the time. We provided him with photos of ten dangerous fugitives, which he then published on the front page of The Washington Daily News.
The “Top Ten” list was extremely popular at the time and several fugitives were captured as a result. During the following year, the FBI formalized its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” publicity program, which, since 1950, has led to the location of more than 460 of our nation’s most dangerous criminals.
Through the publication of fugitive information in various outlets, beginning with newspapers and magazines, to now using the Internet, television, social media, and digital billboards across the country, the FBI continues to seek public assistance in locating wanted fugitives. We recognize the unique ability of the news media to cast a wider net within communities here and abroad. The FBI can send agents to visit a thousand homes to find a witness, but the media can visit a million homes in an instant.
The FBI tracks every possible lead in its search for dangerous fugitives, but we could not have been as successful without citizens reporting tips to us and to our law enforcement partners. The FBI’s “Top Ten” program celebrates not only an FBI success story, but emphasizes the need for citizen cooperation in the fight against crime.
The “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program tracks the evolution of the crime problem in America. While the list began with bank robbers and murder suspects fleeing state jurisdiction, it has evolved into a search for major organized crime figures, serial killers, domestic and international terrorists, cyber criminals, and white collar criminals. During this last decade, the list has illustrated the international scope of crime, as well as the importance of strong global partnerships in the search for terrorists, sexual predators, human traffickers, and other violent criminals who pose a significant danger to all.
The landscape in which we operate and the technology we use will continue to change. The threats we face as citizens will become more diverse and dangerous. But what will not change is the hard work and integrity of dedicated FBI employees and our commitment to protecting U.S. citizens both at home and abroad.
FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” Program:
The Beginnings
On February 7, 1949, an article entitled FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives Named appeared in The Washington Daily News. A United Press International reporter contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked for the names and descriptions of the “toughest guys” the FBI wanted to capture. In hopes the publicity would lead to arrests, the FBI listed the names of ten fugitives it considered to be the most potentially dangerous. The story generated so much publicity and public appeal, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover permanently implemented the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program a year later on March 14, 1950.
This “Top Ten” program relied heavily on the nation’s news media. Recognizing the need for public assistance in locating fugitives, the “Top Ten” program was designed to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives who might not otherwise merit nationwide attention. And it worked! Citizen cooperation led to the arrest of nine of the first 20 “Top Tenners.” This included the very first “Top Tenner“, Thomas Holden, who was arrested after a citizen recognized his photograph in an Oregon newspaper.
Today
Gone are the days when “Top Ten” posters could be found in post offices. Since 1996, “Top Ten” posters have appeared on the FBI’s Internet site, www.fbi.gov, allowing the FBI to extend its reach across domestic and international borders and obtain worldwide public assistance tracking these fugitives. Traditional media outlets, such as radio programs, television shows, and printed publications provide additional publicity for the fugitives on the list.
However, with the increased use of electronic and digital technology, the FBI has turned to some nontraditional and cutting-edge techniques to publicize the fugitives on the “Top Ten” list. Digital outdoor billboards appearing throughout the United States now feature images of these individuals. The FBI also has a Facebook page and a Twitter account where friends and followers can instantly receive information about the latest fugitives on the list. The weekly Wanted by the FBI podcast, FBI widgets, and a cell phone application all allow the public to download the latest fugitive information at the touch of a button.
As technology advances, the FBI intends to keep pace and continue using it as much as possible to profile fugitives and engage the public’s help in locating them.
The Program
Since its inception, 494 fugitives have appeared on the “Top Ten” list and 463 have been located. Not all fugitives have been arrested; some have surrendered peacefully, others have been found deceased, had their federal process dismissed, or were removed from the list because they no longer fit “Top Ten” criteria. But just as the priorities of the FBI have changed, so has the makeup of the “Top Ten” list. Through the 1950s, the list was primarily comprised of bank robbers, burglars, and car thieves. During the turbulent 1960s, the list reflected the revolutionaries of the time. Destruction of government property, sabotage, and kidnapping dominated the list. In the 1970s, with the FBI’s concentration on organized crime and terrorism, the “Top Ten” included many fugitives with organized crime ties or links to terrorist groups. In the 1980s and 1990s, the list included sexual predators, international terrorists, and drug traffickers. This emphasis, along with crimes against children, white collar crime, and gang violence, continues today.
Criteria for Placement on the List
There are two primary criteria used to determine who should be placed on the list. First, the fugitive must be a particularly dangerous menace to society and/or have a lengthy record of committing serious crimes. Second, the FBI must believe nationwide publicity will assist in apprehending the fugitive.
The List
Many FBI offices are involved in selecting the fugitives who will make the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) at FBI Headquarters contacts all 56 field offices in an effort to solicit the most dangerous fugitives for consideration. CID Supervisory Special Agents and personnel from the Office of Public Affairs evaluate the nominees received from the field and select the “best” candidate. The candidate is then forwarded to the Assistant Director of the CID for his/her approval and then to the FBI’s Director for final selection.
Removal from the List
Unless a “Top Tenner” is captured, found dead, or surrenders, “Top Tenners” are only removed from the list when they meet one of two conditions. First, the federal process pending against the individual is dismissed. Second, they no longer fit “Top Ten” criteria. When a fugitive is removed from the list, another candidate is added.
How the FBI Gets Its Men and Women:
A 20-Year Study of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” Program 1989-2009
The theory behind the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program is simple: the more people that know your face, the harder it is to hide. Engaging the public in the hunt for the nation’s most dangerous criminals by adding thousands of eyes to the search can be a valuable tool to investigators. With Agents following their trail, and a vigilant public awaiting them at every gas station and grocery store, the fugitive feels squeezed from every angle. Nine of the first 20 “Top Tenners” were arrested due to citizen cooperation. As the program has grown and matured, its success has continued. Nearly 94 percent of the fugitives that have been placed on the “Top Ten” list have been apprehended or located (463 of 494); approximately one-third of them a result of citizen cooperation.
When the program was born, fighting crime was the FBI’s primary business, and the weight of the organization was dedicated to solving crimes and arresting criminals; finding fugitives played a vital part. But things have changed. Counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber crimes have taken on more prominence and a greater share of FBI resources. Our criminal investigative responsibilities have changed as well, with higher priorities placed on public corruption, white collar crimes, civil rights, and gangs.
In response to this organizational shift in priorities, the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program has evolved as well. With fewer resources devoted to capturing fugitives, the role of the public has become even more important. To expand the public’s exposure to the fugitives, the FBI has turned to technology and unique media partnerships. “Top Ten Fugitive” posters moved from the post office to the Internet, where they are viewed by up to three million people a month. A variety of new media platforms, including television programs and digital billboards, are now used to keep fugitive faces in the public spotlight. Plus, in the last couple years the FBI has gone viral, publicizing “Top Tenners” through widgets, Facebook, Twitter, podcasts, and on YouTube.
The following study takes a look at the last 20 years of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. How has the program changed since its inception? What crimes are featured on the list? How long do the fugitives remain on the run before being arrested? How has the program survived despite the organization’s shift from being primarily a law enforcement organization to becoming a hybrid law enforcement and intelligence agency? Has “new media” contributed to the apprehension of these dangerous criminals? To answer these questions, this study looks at the 72 fugitives that have been placed on the list since 1989.
Today’s “Top Ten” List More Likely to Include Terrorist, Organized Crime Figures and Child Predators
The standard candidate for addition to the “Top Ten” list has changed as the FBI’s priorities have changed. The original “Top Ten” list was comprised entirely of murderers, bank robbers, and escaped prisoners. The current list, while its till includes several murderers, an escaped convict and a bank robber, also includes organized crime leaders and an international terrorist. A review of crimes for which the previous 20 years’ worth of “Top Ten Fugitives” have been wanted illustrates the expanded scope of FBI responsibility.
Figure 1.1 shows that, not unexpectedly, the predominant crime category remains murder. The act of murder alone is rarely justification enough to be placed on the list. Other factors come into play, including the number of victims, their relationship to the killer, and the motive for the attack. To better understand which types of murders have resulted in placement on the “Top Ten” list over the past 20 years.
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2 breaks the murder category into a handful of distinct sub-categories. The two most common types of murderers to appear on the list involve family-member or domestic victims and killings with multiple victims. Other common crimes landing someone on the list include the killing of law enforcement officers, and other violent criminal acts, such as kid napping or armed robbery, that escalate into murder.
Figure 1.2
“Top Tenners” Cannot Hide for Long
In the last 20 years, a total of 72 fugitives have been added to the list. This compares with 422 fugitives during the first 39 years of the program. However, a review of the overall “Top Ten” statistics reveals that the yearly “located” numbers have been roughly consistent since 1970. The majority of “Top Ten” captures appears to have occurred within a couple short time spans. In a five-year span between 1951 and 1955, a total of 76 fugitives were apprehended or killed; a total of 105 were located during a similar five-year span between 1964 and 1968.
A “Top Tenner’s” odds of a long life on the run are not promising. Figure 2.1 breaks down the amount of time fugitives (other than current Top Tenners) have spent on the list. Nearly 60 percent of “Top Tenners” were caught within a year of being placed on the list, with more than half of those fugitives being apprehended within a month of being placed on the list.
Figure 2.1
Many Fugitives Found far from Home
Another interesting way of viewing the “Top Ten” list is by looking at where the fugitives were found. Did the fugitives attempt to use local knowledge and support structures to evade arrest, or did they try to establish a new life and a new identity far from the scene of the crime? Figure 3.1 shows where the fugitives were located in comparison to where the crime was committed.
Figure 3.1
While many “Top Tenners” apparently chose to stay close (one-in-six fugitives never left the city), two-thirds were eventually apprehended far from the location of their crime. In fact, more than 40 percent of “Top Ten” fugitives over the past 20 years have been apprehended outside of the United States.
Figure 3.2 reveals the destinations of choice for fugitives that have opted to flee the country in a failed attempt to avoid the FBI’s grasp. The vast majority fled south, mostly to Mexico, but several went further south to South America. Three international terrorists and a Pakistani murder fugitive all sought refuge near their home countries in the Middle East.
Figure 3.2
