Warrant Backlog Under 40,000 (Levels Not Seen Since 2007)

Upper Marlboro, MD…The Sheriff’s Office Warrant/Fugitive Division reported that the warrant backlog that was over 53,000 four years ago is below 40,000 - a level not seen since 2007.

The news from the Sheriff’s Warrant/Fugitive Division comes on the heels of the Crime Reduction Press Conference held yesterday at the Community of Hope AME Church in Temple Hills, MD, where Sheriff  Melvin C. High joined Governor O’Malley and various county leaders including Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III, County Police Department Chief Mark A. Magaw, County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, Council Chairman Mel Franklin, Council Member Karen Toles and members of the community to report 2014 Crime Reduction in Prince George’s County.

Referring to remarks he made at the press conference, Sheriff High said, “Four years ago, we set priorities to be successful in our work and to reach goals like this one. That priority was to apprehend violent crime offenders.  In addition, we committed to staying ahead of new warrants coming in and to stopping the growth trend of the backlog,” said Sheriff High.

“Under the Warrant/Fugitive Division, we’ve developed a multi-pronged strategy to manage our warrant process for all types of warrants, even as we stay focused on violent offenders. We’ve serve warrants through arrests, extradition, the enormous success of the team we put on cold cases and warrant operations we undertake throughout the year with assistance from other law enforcement partners. We have a productive interface with the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), the warrant invalidation process we improved with assistance from the legislature has proven successful and we send a letter to individuals with outstanding misdemeanors because sometimes people forget. And, our warrant processing staff manages a huge volume of administrative warrant closures,” said Sheriff High.   

“It’s energizing heading into a new year because our success is based on the commitment of our people to the work we do.”

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354.

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