Exploring the proactive pursuits of wanted persons: a case study of a local fugitive unit

Police departments use a variety of tactics to bring fugitives to justice, including establishing dedicated fugitive units. Critics suggest that proactive policing units, particularly ‘plainclothes’ units, and efforts to pursue fugitives embrace overly aggressive and invasive methods that lead to abusive police–citizen encounters and undermine police legitimacy. As such, it is important to understand fugitive unit operations to determine whether their efforts lead to unintended community harms. A case study design is used to develop a detailed account of the proactive policing methods used by the Boston Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit. Multimodal data, including administrative records, participant observations, and civilian complaints, are analysed to document unit operations. Findings suggest that proactive fugitive units can be highly productive and hold serious offenders accountable while operating in a way that minimizes potential unintended consequences. The implications of these results for officer and public safety and community attitudes towards law enforcement are discussed.