Washington ? The U.S. Marshals Service and local police agencies arrested more than 10,000 fugitives last week in an aggressive nationwide sweep that ranks as the largest single dragnet in U.S. history, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The campaign — dubbed Operation Falcon and timed to coincide with National Crime Victims’ Rights Week — included the arrests of more than 160 murder suspects, 550 rape and sexual assault suspects and more than 150 alleged gang members, officials said.

Criminal justice experts said that by apprehending thousands of fugitives in a matter of days, the operation underscored the low priority that law enforcement agencies often give to locating people who have jumped bail, violated parole or otherwise evaded state and federal courts.

“The dirty little secret is that there usually is not enough effort and manpower put into apprehension of fugitives,” said David Harris, a law professor at the University of Toledo who studies criminal justice issues. “Most fugitives are aware of this, and it makes the system a joke…. It’s never been a top priority.”

Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales said the large number of arrests was the result of a “concentrated, intensive effort” that is not possible under normal circumstances. But he said the operation would serve as a model for future cooperation between federal and local agencies. Ninety percent of the cases involved local or state warrants.

“There are clearly bad guys out on the streets that need to be rounded up,” Gonzales said at a news conference with Marshals Service director Benigno Renya. “More needs to be done. We understand that, and I think we’re heartened by these results.”

Large backlogs of warrants exist in most local jurisdictions, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands, even though many local law enforcement agencies have special units dedicated to locating fugitives. Fugitives remain on the street because they often cross state or jurisdictional lines. Without a federal officer, authorities cannot enter another city or county to make an arrest.

The Marshals Service, which has been given added responsibilities by Congress as the FBI turns its attention to preventing terrorism, has set up a series of regional task forces focused on apprehending fugitives.

Last week’s dragnet brought in some 1,500 suspects linked to murder, rape, kidnapping or other serious violent offenses, according to the Marshals Service. Gonzales said that about 70 percent had prior arrest records.

U.S. Marshals enter a home in Alorton, Ill., to search for a wanted suspect during part of the nationwide Operation Falcon. More than 10,000 fugitives have been arrested this month in the coordinated crackdown.

Among the cases highlighted by authorities was a 24-year-old suspect wanted by Dallas police who allegedly killed a man by shooting him five times after leaving a drug house and a 21-year-old Atlanta fugitive who was found hiding under a trap door in his kitchen. In Henrico County, Va., a fugitive was arrested for his alleged involvement in a 2001 kidnapping and execution-style murder. He is a suspect in another homicide in Richmond, Va., authorities said.

“We know from history, and from the bitter experiences of far too many victims, that a fugitive with a rap sheet is more desperate, more predatory and more likely to commit the crimes that plague citizens and communities,” Gonzales said.

James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston, said federal and state authorities should put more resources into chasing fugitives but added that it is not clear whether such efforts have a significant impact on crime rates.

“A dragnet like this should not be done just once, but repeatedly, without warning, to send a message that there is a decent chance that you’ll get caught eventually,” Fox said.

From April 4 to April 10, 10,340 fugitives were apprehended and nearly 14,000 warrants were cleared as part of the operation, officials said. More than 3,000 federal agents and local police officers worked on the raids each day, and more than 900 separate agencies were involved.

The largest category of cases — nearly 4,300 — involved drug crimes, while 1,700 other suspects were arrested for assault charges, the government said.

Federal officials said Operation Falcon cost the Marshals about $900,000 overall. In all of past year, the Marshals Service arrested about 36,000 fugitives on federal warrants and helped apprehend about 32,000 others in local cases.