Federal Witness Protection

The Federal Witness Protection Service has been around for over 45 years. The program has protected families and witnesses from harm and danger. Witness Protection is an important program to help put criminals behind bars.
The program was established in 1970 under the Organized Crime Control Act. Although, the program officially began in 1971. The program is used to relocate, protect and provide new identities to witnesses of federal or state government cases. Since 1971, the program has relocated and protected over 8,500 witnesses and 9,900 of their family members. With a success rate of 100%, the U.S. Marshals Service has yet to lose a witness participating inside the program. The program is operated and managed by three main agencies: The
To be considered a reliable source, the witness must give the testimony and can’t back out. For exchange of protection, a witness must give a testimony, a statement given by the witness on a certain event that took place. To enroll in the program, the state or federal law enforcement submits an application to the Office of Enforcement Operations. The office then reviews the application and looks at the summary of the testimony given and determines if the life of the witness is at risk. An interview is then scheduled with the Marshal Service with the assessment of the application and the risk level associated with the witness. After it passes the Office of Enforcement Operations, it’s then passed to the US. Attorney General. Since over 95% of witnesses in the program are criminals, the Attorney General will then asses the risk the witness poses in a new community. When the witness is evaluated, criminal records, alternatives to witness protection and testimony from other witnesses is taken into account to determine the final decision of acceptance. If the witness accepts, the US. Marshals Service will immediately remove the witness or family members from their current location, to a new secure location. The witness will then be briefed of the guidelines of
With an interview with Greg Tuttle of the Billings Gazette, she tells a story of what it’s like being in the program. Back in 1981, at the age of 7, Jackee and her family was put into witness protection. Her father, Clarence Crouch, was the Vice President of the Cleveland section, Hell’s Angels. Her mother, knew of the trouble Clarence was in. One evening, she noticed a vehicle with two men sitting outside watching the house. Her mother knew something had happened. She packed up the family and moved to Florida with her other two siblings. She was then contacted by WP saying her father had committed a murder. In exchange for his help in the prosecution of some motorcycle gang members, Clarence was offered a plea deal and protection for his family. The family agreed to the terms and enrolled in the program. The family was whisked away at 2 am in dark vans. They moved across Florida to a new location. They stayed at this new house for several months before being flown to Montana. They were put into a motel until they found proper living space. There are also some problems that persisted since enrolling in the program. The family never received the support they needed. Jackee said it was like they were dumped. There was no money or assistance. She was never given a new birth certificate. She has had to go through many hurdles like acceptance into college and marriage. Many