On the Lam

Jerry Clark, PhD, retired as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2011 after twenty-seven years in law enforcement, including careers as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Clark is an associate professor of criminal justice at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he is also co-owner of Clark & Wick Investigations LLC and Fisher Security.Ed Palattella joined the Erie Times-News, in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1990. He has won a number of awards, including for his investigative work and his coverage of crime.They are co-authors of Mania and Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong: Inside the Mind of a Female Serial Killer (R&L, 2017), A History of Heists: Bank Robbery in America (R&L, 2015), and Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America’s Most Shocking Bank Robbery (2012).

Despite the threat to public safety, Americans have long been fascinated with fugitives from justice. Over the decades, fugitives such as Jesse James; Bonnie Parker and her lover/partner in crime, Clyde Barrow; and Whitey Bulger have captivated American imaginations, elevating them to almost herolike status. This work examines the history of the fugitive in the U.S. criminal justice system, beginning with the inception of the U.S. Marshals and the FBI, as well as the creation of the FBI's "public enemy" and "most-wanted" lists. After the creation of these lists, fugitives became American icons and were often romanticized in the media. Stories of famous (and not so famous) fugitives and how they evaded capture are featured throughout. The authors describe the various methods authorities have used to capture fugitives over the years and how the digital age makes it more difficult for these criminals to remain at large.