SERIAL GAMES CHARACTER INTERVIEW: US MARSHAL BERNIE ERIN

Marshal Erin, welcome to the Lounge!

Thank you for having me. Good to be here.

Can you answer a few questions for us?

Absolutely. It would be my pleasure.

Great! Can you tell us how you came to be a Marshal?

I was a Sheriff's deputy for five years before I decided to try my hand at the US Marshals. As a Marshal, I've worked on the prisoner transfer detail but my favorite assignment has been retrieval (smiles).



Do criminals escape often?



No, not often, but frequent enough for the Marshals to have specialized teams to capture them. We usually pick up most runners in forty-eight hours, due in large part to our team leader, Marshal Worth.



So the job isn't at all like Justified, or is it?



(Laughs) That's Hollywood, as you know. We're a lot less like cowboys and more like -- Tommy Lee Jones (laughs). Justified has been great for recruitment, though (smiles).



What's your favorite part about the job?





I get a real sense of fulfillment, after being constantly on the go for the first forty-eight hours, to be able to snap the cuffs on the runner. Knowing we help keep the streets safe from one more, possibly violent offender, I know I'm doing what God has called me to do.



What is the hardest part of the job?





The waiting. We are mostly on the go -- hot on a runner's trail -- but sometimes there is a space of time where we don't know exactly where he is. We have to wait for an update, maybe from the local police, or perhaps from another law enforcement unit. In that time, you don't know what the runner is doing, or if he is hurting someone.



We heard you were on the case of that escaped serial killer. What can you tell us about that?



That's a pretty broad question. We can't discuss the particulars of the case, but I will say it was one of the best cases I've worked on both personally and professionally. It's always a fantastic challenge going up against the smartest criminals; how long they can stay on the run, what do the Marshals have to do to outsmart them. Personally? I was happy to mentor a good friend of mine on what is near and dear to my heart.



And what might that be?





Love, of course! (Laughs) I can't say anything more -- Worth would kill me.



Okay. Thank you, Marshal, for visiting the Lounge.





Thank you for having me.



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