MARYLAND’S FUGITIVE FILES

CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS WEEK
STATE POLICE FOCUS ON CITIZENS’ RIGHT TO KNOW
HOW TO KEEP FROM BECOMING A VICTIM

TODAY: MARYLAND’S FUGITIVE FILES

(Pikesville, MD) – In support of National Crime Victims’ Rights week, the Maryland State Police, along with community partners and other law enforcement agencies, are reminding citizens how they can help protect their communities. When searching for a criminal on the run, police rely on leads from a variety of sources, including the public. By making an anonymous phone call, a citizen with valuable information can help lead police to the location of a wanted fugitive. In today’s “Right to Know: How to Keep From Becoming A Victim,” the focus is on protecting your communities and keeping dangerous criminals off the streets by providing useful information to police.

An important resource available to the public is Comcast’s signature Fugitive Files On Demand program, which launched in Maryland in 2006. Fugitive Files On Demand features regularly updated video profiles of individuals from Maryland’s statewide “Most Wanted” list. Comcast Digital TV customers can view Fugitive Files On Demand video profiles any time of the day or night at no additional cost. The profiles include information on how viewers with knowledge about the profiled individuals can contact the police anonymously.

Fugitive Files is the first public service programming of its kind utilizing video on demand to expose the identities of dangerous fugitives to the public. Each criminal profiled on Fugitive Files has a warrant out for his/her arrest for violent crimes including murder, assault, rape and/or gang violence.

Another valuable partnership between law enforcement and the media is with WBFF TV Fox 45. Weekly Saturday night newscasts, which are also available to Comcast customers, features a segment called, “Maryland’s Most Wanted”. A profile of one or two criminals, who are on the run in the Baltimore region, is described by a uniformed Maryland State Trooper. The public is then asked to call police if they have any pertinent information on the fugitive being profiled. The Maryland State Police has partnered with Fox 45 for over ten years in this crime fighting effort.

“It is an absolute necessity to promote cooperation between law enforcement, the community and the media,” said Colonel Terrence B. Sheridan, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, “The public has the right to know they have the power to help law enforcement make a difference in their communities by making a phone call and sharing relevant information that could lead to a capture.”

“We are committed to promoting public safety and providing On Demand programming that is meaningful to our local community,” said Noah Kodeck, Director of Local On Demand Programming for Comcast. “Maryland’s Fugitive Files On Demand is another way Comcast is using its signature technology to make a positive difference.”

To view Maryland’s Fugitive Files On Demand, Comcast Digital TV customers can tune to Channel 1 on their Digital TV lineup or press the On Demand button on their remote control, then click on the “Get Local” section. Segments are produced on a monthly basis by the Maryland State Police Media Communications office and a Comcast video production crew at state police headquarters in Pikesville.

To catch WBFF Fox 45’s newscast featuring some of the fugitives in the Baltimore region, tune in every Saturday at 10:00 p.m. Segments are produced on a weekly basis by the Fox 45 news production crew.