CLEVELAND — The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force is being led by a woman, Anne Murphy, for the first time in its history.
The task force hunts the baddest of the bad. Fugitives wanted for murder, rape and armed robbery.
“We hunt really bad people who need to go to jail and not be on the streets,” said Murphy.
Monday night, task force members arrested an alleged baby killer.
“Some of the cases hit us really hard,” said Murphy.
Murphy was recently named the supervisor of the task force which is made up of 350 officers from 125 law enforcement agencies.
The Akron native knew at a young age that she wanted to be in law enforcement.
In 2003, she interned with the U.S. Marshals Service in Cleveland. At the same time, U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott was starting the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force.
“As the task force was starting, I was one of the first interns the task force has in Akron,” said Murphy.
Murphy knew then she wanted a job with the USMS. In 2010, her dream became a reality.
She has earned the respect of her colleagues.
“I’ve come up through the years and shown them what I can do and how hard I am willing to work,” said Murphy.
Murphy is proud of the job the men and women of the task force do everyday.
“The Marshal Service is such a great agency, I say it with a smile, but it’s such a great job. The people we work for, the job we do. I’m proud of my job every single night I go home,” said Murphy.
Murphy is a wife and mother of two small children.
“She has the heart of a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Anne Murphy at 6 o’clock at night puts a bib on her baby and at 6 o’clock in the morning puts on a bullet proof vest. She is the real deal,” said Elliott.
Women make up only 10% of federal law enforcement jobs.
Murphy is thankful for the women who came before her.
“The road is definitely more paced than it was 10, 15, 20 years ago in law enforcement,” she said.
Now, she hopes to be a role model to young women thinking of a career in law enforcement.
