Awards and Appreciation, Featured Stories, Law Enforcement Operations

OCS team, officer awarded by U.S. Marshals

November 6, 2026

CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety’s (OCS) Fresno Fugitive Apprehension Team and Fresno Task Force Officer Luis Vidales won awards at the U.S. Marshals Service’s (USMS) 44th Director’s Honorary Awards Ceremony on Oct. 19. The Fresno team received a Distinguished Group Award in the District Task Force category, and Vidales was presented with a Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award.

The Distinguished Group Award recognizes groups of individuals whose extraordinary accomplishments have distinguished them among all others. The Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award is presented to a state, local or Federal law enforcement official outside the USMS who has made a significant contribution to the Agency’s mission.

Vidales was recognized for his significant contributions to the fugitive mission of the USMS. Specifically, he was instrumental in the fugitive investigation of Cesar Hernandez, who was serving a sentence for murder with CDCR when he escaped during transport for a court appearance on Dec. 2, 2024. Logging long hours, nights, and weekends and writing over 60 search warrants, Vidales worked the fugitive investigation in coordination with numerous elements of the USMS from the day of Hernandez’s escape until his apprehension in Tijuana, Mexico, on April 17, 2025.

The USMS recognized the Fresno team for their participation in “Operation Shock Collar.” The team, working with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, was instrumental in the investigation and takedown of the Bulldogs, a street and prison gang operating in and around Fresno. The Bulldogs’ criminal activities include drug, human, and arms trafficking, theft, robbery, extortion, rape, assault, and murder. The June 26, 2025, operation, in coordination with the USMS’s week-long “Operation Washout,” resulted in 92 arrests, including four for murder, and the seizure of 19 guns, over a pound of cocaine, five pounds of methamphetamine, and more than a half a pound of fentanyl.

“This recognition from the USMS exemplifies the dedication, courage, and professionalism of the Fresno Fugitive Apprehension Team and Task Force Officer Vidales, as well as OCS’s mission of ensuring the safety and security of our communities,” said OCS Chief Jim Harden.

Story by Mary Xjiminez, Information Officer II (Supervisor)
Office of Public and Employee Communications
Photos provided by the United States Marshals Service

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