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(NewsNation) — Every day before dawn, the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force prepares for its daily mission: track down the region's most elusive suspects after weeks — sometimes months — of surveillance.
The task force members come armed with tactical gear, guns and K-9 officers as they execute felony warrants across the state's northern region.
NewsNation was given an inside look at one day’s worth of operations, which involved a crew of 20 and at least half a dozen targets on the docket, whose charges ranged from involuntary manslaughter to sexual battery to domestic violence.
Each highly orchestrated operation begins when a team of U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement surround the premises, draw their weapons, knock on the door and issue a wake-up call: "U.S. Marshals with a warrant. Come to the front door with your hands empty and over your head."
The team's K-9 counterparts serve as a “huge tool psychologically for the suspects and guys that we're going after, and then also just as a tool for us, for searching and not putting us in harm's way," deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Jasinsky told NewsNation.
“Once that door opens, we don't know who's on the other side of that door," he added. "If a door opens and that guy's got a gun in his hand, I mean, we've got to protect ourselves and protect the public.
U.S. Marshals execute a search warrant in Ohio. (NewsNation)
Marshals can spend months investigating tips and strategizing before arresting a suspect. (NewsNation)
Arrests can be traumatic for families. U.S. Marshals are sometimes tasked with consoling children after taking their parents away. (NewsNation)
K-9 officers are vital to keeping U.S. Marshals safe. (NewsNation)
Deputy U.S. Marshal Ryan Jasinsky. (NewsNation)
One suspect spat at NewsNation's crew while being arrested, yelling, “Don’t put me on that camera.” The task force said they deal with similar actions daily.
“People don't want to go to jail. They don't, and they make bad decisions that, you know, that they're making either to fight or flee,” said Anne Murphy, the task force's assistant chief. “But we try to take all that into account and be prepared for that.”
One arrest involved a couple accused of involuntary manslaughter after authorities said they distributed drugs that led to an overdose.
Marshals took the pair away in handcuffs as one of their mothers and their youngest child watched, a scene task force members said was a heartbreaking reality.
“I have five kids myself, so usually I'll kind of take a step out as a team lead and kind of hold the kid, or make sure the kids got what they need," Jasinsky said.
“Because if you have them come out and it's all negative, they just see guns, yelling, then that's all they know," he said. "Instead of us talking to them like a normal human being.”
At the end of the day, the task force is just one piece of the much larger national operation within the U.S. Marshals Service — one that took more than 74,000 people into custody last year, according to government data.
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