2,200 Fugitives Captured After Police Check Of Food Stamp Rolls

Police in 24 cities captured almost 2,200 fugitives after checking food stamp rolls, a sweep that will save taxpayers $3.1 million, administration officials said.

Vice President Al Gore announced Thursday that the computer cross-matching program, made legal by last year’s welfare reform law, will be expanded nationwide in the coming months. “We want to provide a safety net for the needy, not a hammock for fugitives and felons,” Gore said at a White House event attended by state and local police officials.

Before the new welfare law, privacy protections made it illegal for police to check food stamp rolls, and fugitives were not specifically prohibited from obtaining the benefits.

That was changed effective in August 1996. The Agriculture Department’s inspector general then launched “Operation Talon” 11 months ago in cooperation with specific local police departments. The first 85 fugitives were arrested in June in Louisville and Lexington, Ky.

Some of the roundups were elaborate sting operations. In Chicago, Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan said his officers set up a fake “government consulting firm” to contacted fugitives and tell them their food stamp benefits would run out unless they came down for an interview.

“Once the offenders believed their benefits were in jeopardy, the calls started pouring in,” Sheahan said.

The fictitious firm’s name was “Tsera & Marant,” a play on the words “arrest warrant.” Some fugitives even accepted free rides in what turned out to be a police van that took them straight to jail.

The Chicago sweep was responsible for 470 of the 2,199 arrests made under the program. Among those arrested were 19 people accused of murder or attempted murder, 10 fleeing child molestation charges and seven accused of rape. More than 600 of the cases involved drugs.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the arrests saved taxpayers $3.1 million, assuming each fugitive obtained food stamps for a full year. More importantly, he said, the program helps keep public “confidence and trust” in the $1.9 billion program that is helping feed 20.1 million Americans this year.