That has not been a priority for the marshals. Patrignani's office leads an interagency fugitive task force that makes hundreds of arrests a year, but it has focused on serving arrest warrants on people wanted by Philadelphia police as well as on tracking down federal absconders.
In his letter to the marshals Wednesday, Specter drew upon reporting in an Inquirer series, published in December, that portrayed a Philadelphia criminal justice system in crisis.
"Federal help is needed now," wrote Specter, who called local resources "woefully insufficient."
The newspaper found a system plagued by the nation's lowest conviction rates, the dismissal of thousands of cases without any hearing on their merits, widespread and growing witness intimidation - and a massive number of fugitives.
The paper reported that nearly 47,000 fugitives from the Philadelphia courts are on the loose. The city is tied with Newark, N.J., for having the nation's highest fugitive felony rate, according to a Justice Department survey. Specter cited these figures in his letter.
He also reprised the newspaper's report that the Philadelphia courts had a squad of just 51 officers to go after fugitives - a caseload of more than 900 defendants per officer. The squad arrested more than 5,000 people last year, but the number of fugitives continues to grow.
The Philadelphia Police Department has no fugitive squad, but participates in the 35-member Violent Crimes Fugitives Task Force led by the local marshals office.
This task force made more than 1,500 arrests in the last fiscal year. The unit is staffed primarily with city police, along with state troopers, state probation officials, and marshals.
