Sunday, March 14, marks 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 Fugitives list; 463 have been apprehended or located.
Since March 14, 1950, the Boston Division has added 21 fugitives to the Top Ten list:
• 15 fugitives from Massachusetts
• 5 fugitives from Maine
• 1 fugitive from New Hampshire
• Rhode Island is one of four states which has never had a fugitive on the list
• Sydney Cooke was the first fugitive from New England to be placed on the list, on January 7, 1952, for assault with a dangerous weapon. He was captured on November 27, 1953. John Schillaci was the last fugitive from the Boston Division to be placed on the list, on September 7, 2007, for Felonious Sexual Assault. He was captured on June 5, 2008. Currently, Boston has one fugitive on the Top Ten list. James J. Bulger has been on the list since August 19, 1999.
Today’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program 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 http://www.fbi.gov/.
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