DECATUR - Macon County sheriff's deputy Adam Walter is one of two members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Central Illinois to be recognized with a distinguished service award.

Walter, 40, was recognized for making more than 800 arrests including 20 people wanted for murder or attempted murder since joining the task force as a special deputy marshal in 2005.

The awards were presented Dec. 17 during a banquet in Chicago held by the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Task Force, which oversees operations in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

The other Central Illinois award recipient was Deputy U.S. Marshal Kevin Jackson, who oversees the task force's Peoria and Bloomington divisions.

Walter also was recognized for the capture of fugitive Christopher Reed in Ripley, Tenn., on Dec. 1, 2005. Reed was wanted for the Aug. 8, 2005, shooting death of Tywon Renier, 24, of Springfield, in a parking lot in the 1300 block of North Calhoun Street. Reed was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Reed also was wanted for the 1996 shooting death of Debra Briggs-Currin in the 1500 block of North Main Street during an attempted carjacking.

U.S. Marshal Supervisor Bruce Harmening, who is based in Springfield and oversees all U.S. marshal fugitive operations in the 46-county Central District of Illinois, said the awards were well-deserved.

"These two men have pursued and captured some of the worst criminals in Central Illinois, and it was an honor to be able to recognize them at this ceremony," Harmening said.

Macon County Sheriff Thomas Schneider said that part of Walter's success stems from his ability to work well with other people.

"Adam is dedicated to law enforcement. He just has a knack for tracking down people," Schneider said.

Walter said his success over the past four years stems in part from the enormous amount of resources available through the U.S. Marshals Service and the networking that goes on with other officers.

"There are a lot of databases that we can get into that help find people," Walter said.

The recent erection of digital billboards in Decatur also appears to have strong potential for helping apprehend fugitives, Walter said.

"We've put four people up on those billboards so far and arrested two of them; but we've had calls about all four," he said.

The 800 arrests with which he was credited are not 800 separate people, Walter said. Some are people he has arrested more than once, in one case he has apprehended the same man five times, he said.

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