Summary
Created in 1789, the U.S. Marshals Service is America's oldest federal law enforcement agency. The service began as a team of 13 handpicked officer charged with maintaining the security of federal courts. Today there are more than 90 U.S. Marshals and over 3,000 deputy U.S. Marshals or criminal investigators responsible for the protection of federal courts and judges, housing of federal detainees prior to trial, investigation and pursuit of federal fugitives, and administration of the Witness Security Program, among many other duties. U.S. Marshals traces the history of this pioneering national police force, examining its purpose, duties, and tactics in detail.
Key topics covered include:
- U.S. Marshals duties
- Creation of the U.S. Marshals
- Counterfeiting
- Witness Security Program
- Keeping order in the courts
- Federal fugitives
- Wartime operations
- Marshals killed in the line of duty.
Specifications
Full-color and black-and-white photographs. Sidebars. Chronology. Endnotes. Bibliography. Further resources. Index.
About the Author(s)
Michael Newton has published more than 220 books since 1977. His history of the Florida Ku Klux Klan, The Invisible Empire, won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for "Best Book in Florida History," and his Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology was one of the American Library Association's Outstanding Reference Works in 2006. His nonfiction work includes numerous volumes for Facts On File.