Rounding Up Criminals From All Corners

Adorning a corner of Lt. Raymond Foster’s downtown office cubicle are fish netting, a fake sword and a pirate’s hat.

They are fitting symbols for the commanding officer of the Fugitive Warrant Section, the Los Angeles Police Department unit charged with rounding up and bringing to justice thousands of bandits and murderers.

At any given time, 17,300 are being sought, including more than 2,000 ex-convicts, 700 murderers and 145 gang members.

The list is a rogues’ gallery, including the likes of Timothy Joseph McGhee, 29, wanted in connection with at least 12 murders in the Atwater Village area, and Jose Jesus Jaime Espinoza, 26, wanted for a series of carjackings and home invasions.

That’s only part of the job for Foster and his 38 detectives.

Investigators in his unit help other U.S. and international police agencies as they chase fugitives, smooth the way for criminal extraditions and escort suspects returning to California.

“My employees call me the ringmaster, because it’s like a three-ring circus around here,” Foster said. “I constantly get calls, lots of them in the middle of the night.”

Section detectives have traveled to all 50 states and to U.S. territories and protectorates, such as Guam and Puerto Rico.

They fielded more than 200 calls from Interpol last year, took 857 requests from out-of-state police agencies and hundreds of others from other California law enforcement agencies.

The majority of foreign cases involved suspected criminals from Mexico and other Latin American countries. No matter what government they are dealing with, the job requires legal and diplomatic skill.

If a defendant fights extradition, there may be a series of court hearings before a state’s governor can sign an order allowing the fugitive to be brought back to California, a process that can take 90 days or longer, Foster said.

The negotiations involve the governors’ offices, state attorneys general and prosecutors from the two states. Once the process is completed, fugitives are returned through what is known as a governor’s warrant.

A state may refuse to extradite a defendant because it is too costly or because the crime is minor. But almost all extradition requests are approved, especially in more serious crimes, Foster said.

The system works in reverse when an out-of-state fugitive is arrested in California. The reverse process is legally called rendition and involves coordination with local prosecutors and the California Department of Justice.

Issues get more complicated in international cases.

It’s rare for other countries to allow their citizens to be tried in the United States. Only a handful of foreign nationals have been returned to Los Angeles to face prosecution in recent years, in contrast with 215 accused criminals tried abroad in the last 15 years in connection with crimes allegedly committed in Los Angeles, Foster said.

When the LAPD captures a foreign fugitive, negotiations can involve the State Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in addition to a legal attache or police officials from the suspect’s country.

Sometimes countries refuse to cooperate on moral grounds. Such is the case with Mexico, which has refused to return suspects wanted for crimes that could bring the death penalty.

Whatever the country or state, Fugitive Warrant Section detectives mark their journeys with pushpins and lines on a large colored map, flanked by police shoulder patches that they have exchanged with law enforcement agencies from Tijuana to Baton Rouge, La.

The markings tell their own stories. One LAPD investigator recalled waiting for successive flights at airports when commercial pilots didn’t want convicts on their flights.

Another recalled her relief when she was able to avoid riding with a scabies-covered subject on a cross-country trip.

And then there was the skinhead who couldn’t understand why he drew long stares at a Texas airport: His tattoos included allusions to “Dr. Death” and an obscene gesture on the back of his head.

Such trips combined with an increasing caseload eat up time and declining resources, Foster said. What’s worse, there are fewer people to do the job

Only three years ago, the unit had more than 70 people, including representatives in each of 18 LAPD divisions.

Foster is trying to offset the staff losses with the help of technology. The LAPD maintains a computer database with crime data on 40,000 felons, including vital statistics and pictures. Officials hope that the database will allow the use of biometrics to scan faces, giving investigators a new advantage in their fight against crime.