U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald L. Davis announces the agency’s first Senior Advisor for State and Local Law Enforcement Partnerships. Melissa Hyatt, former chief of the Baltimore County Police Department (BCoPD) and 20 plus year veteran of the City of Baltimore Police Department (BPD), will focus on increasing and strengthening the vital relationships between the U.S. Marshals and their local, state, and tribal law enforcement partners.
“Our collaboration with local, state and tribal partners is key to the operations and successes of the U.S Marshals Service in public safety and national security,” said USMS Director Ronald L. Davis. “We are very pleased that Chief Hyatt has joined our team. She is a nationally recognized law enforcement leader who brings with her a wealth of knowledge and skills that will serve U.S. Marshals well in this new role.
In June 2019, Hyatt was unanimously confirmed by Baltimore County Council as the BCoPD’s first female police chief, where she served until December 2022. She previously served as the vice president for security for Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Hyatt graduated from the University of Delaware in 1997 and was one of the inaugural recruits to the Maryland Police Corps, a federal effort to enlist college students to law enforcement. She moved up the BPD ranks, serving on the bicycle unit squad, mobile enforcement team and SWAT. She became the first female sergeant on a BPD tactical team, coordinating operations at hostage and barricade scenes.
“The Marshals Service, as the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency, has a great reputation of working closely with its law enforcement partners,” Hyatt said. “It is my sincere hope that l can use the lessons I learned as chief of police to help the Marshals enhance their collaborative efforts across local and state law enforcement to continue to make all of our communities safer.”
The U.S. Marshals Service was created Sept. 24, 1789, with the passage of the Judiciary Act by Congress.
The USMS mission is to enforce federal laws and provide support to virtually all elements of the federal justice system by providing for the security of federal court facilities and the safety of judges and other court personnel; apprehending criminals; exercising custody of federal prisoners and providing for their security and transportation to correctional facilities; executing federal court orders; seizing assets gained by illegal means and providing for the custody, management, and disposal of forfeited assets; assuring the safety of endangered government witnesses and their families; and collecting and disbursing funds.
Presidentially appointed U.S. Marshals direct the activities of 94 districts — one for each federal judicial district. More than 3,752 Deputy Marshals and Criminal Investigators form the backbone of the agency.
