INDEPENDENCE - As Kenton County Police officers continue to sort through the list of more than 4,200 people wanted by the law in the county, they are coming up with a clearer idea of what needs to be done to clear the backlog.
Chief Mike Browning and his department have taken over the warrants task after a special FBI task force to find fugitives was severely weakened by Sheriff Bill Steenken's decision to leave the group. Chief Browning will take the newly categorized list of fugitives to a meeting of Kenton County police chiefs Wednesday for their ideas.
''It's not looking as bad as we might have thought,'' the chief said Friday. ''It's a lot more manageable this way.''
Of 785 warrants on the ''hot'' list - fugitives who officers think they have the most current information on - more than 80 are for people with Cincinnati addresses. If the charges are misdemeanors, as is 90 percent of the list, Kentucky officers do not go to Ohio to pick the fugitives up because the state will not extradite people for misdemeanors.
''That does take a hit out of what we can do,'' Chief Browning said.
The warrants problem fell to the Kenton County department after The Enquirer reported last month that the list had grown to more than 4,200, and the FBI confirmed it had stepped in with a task force to help find those wanted for the most serious crimes.
Other statistics from the hot list:
- More than 25 are listed as living ''at large,'' meaning warrant-serving officers have no information about where to look for them.
- Not surprisingly, the Covington Police Department would be responsible for the most fugitives - if each department takes its own list. More than 180 are listed as living there.
- The fugitives are from all over the country, from as far away as Crestview, Fla., Des Moines, Iowa, Detroit and El Paso, Texas.
Chief Browning has not yet decided how he will tackle the list. He wants to examine policies for working with police departments from other counties to get them to serve warrants in their areas.
Previous stories
Kenton to focus on most wanted Published Dec. 26, 1996
Warrant backlog worse in Boone, Campbell Published Dec. 22, 1996
Kenton police chief proposes special unit Published Dec. 19, 1996
Sheriff pulls deputies off FBI team Published Dec. 18, 1996
Lawmakers want answer to unserved warrants Published Dec. 17, 1996
4,200 unserved warrants in Kenton County Published Dec. 15, 1996
