FBI Celebrates Anniversary of “Top Ten” Program
| FBI Norfolk March 12, 2010 |
Norfolk FBI Special Agent in Charge Alex Turner announced today that Sunday, March 14, 2010, marks the FBI’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program.
The “Top Ten” program is designed to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives. It is an extremely important law enforcement tool and media involvement is crucial to its success.
The Top Ten program began from a newspaper story in late 1949. A reporter for International News Service asked the FBI for the names and descriptions of the “toughest guys” the Bureau would like to capture. The story had so much appeal and generated so much positive publicity that on March 14, 1950, former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover implemented the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program. From the time of its inception, 494 fugitives have been placed on the Top Ten list and 463 have been apprehended or located.
Since March 14, 1950, the Norfolk Field Office has added three fugitives to the Top Ten list:
- Walter Bernard O'Donnell
- Melvin Dale Walker
- Thomas William Manning
Information about today’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives can be found on the Internet, television, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts, cell phone applications, and digital billboards. As technology continues to advance and innovative applications surface, the FBI intends to utilize all the tools available to publicize the Top Ten fugitives and engage the public in helping to locate them. More information about the Top Ten fugitives is available on the FBI’s Internet home page at www.fbi.gov.