COVINGTON - More than 4,200 people are wanted by the law in Kenton County alone, and nobody has been making a real effort to look for them.
And, The Enquirer has learned,federal officials have stepped in and urged local departments to join a re-started specialized unit to focus on reducing the backlog throughout Northern Kentucky.
''It's just a situation that nobody has stepped up to the plate and accepted responsibility to serve these warrants,'' said Bill Dorsey, assistant chief of the Covington Police Department.
Since the start of the Safe Streets Task Force in August, an FBI agent, two deputies and two police officers involved have opened about 55 cases. In all but about five cases, the wanted subjects have been tracked down. Some were already in jails around the country.
The search method, said Pat Maley, supervisory special agent for the FBI's Covington office, amounts to more than just checking last-known addresses.
The call-to-arms for the federal agency was the murder of Sandra Colston last spring in Fort Wright. She was killed by her estranged husband, Donald, a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair.
Columns by The Enquirer's Rob Kaiser pointed out that Mr. Colston had been wanted for a year for failing to keep in touch with his parole officer.
Both the service of warrants, or lack thereof, and the computer system that is supposed to keep track of who's wanted are flawed in Kenton County, officials say. They tick off a list of complaints:
- The computer is not staffed around-the-clock, making it not as up to date as possible.
- The database does not list as much information as possible, often leaving out birth dates and Social Security numbers, making it difficult for police to know who to arrest.
- And law enforcement agencies battling increasing crime have little money and staff to spare to devote to fugitive hunting.
''I think there needs to be more of an effort of arresting people who are wanted,'' said Don Buring, Kenton's commonwealth attorney. ''There's no real concerted effort. Some officers do; some don't.''
