U.S. Marshals Service and Clear Channel Outdoor Using the Power of Digital Billboards to Help Catch Fugitives

New Partnership Focused on Using Clear Channel Outdoor’s Over 960 Digital Billboards to Empower Citizens to Assist Law Enforcement in Catching Dangerous Criminals

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, the U.S. Marshals Service, the nation’s oldest law enforcement agency, formed a partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor to utilize the company’s nearly 1,000 digital billboards to help apprehend some of the country’s most dangerous fugitives.

Today, the U.S. Marshals Service, the nation's oldest law enforcement agency, formed a partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor to utilize the company's nearly 1,000 digital billboards to help apprehend some of the country's most dangerous fugitives. (Photo: Business Wire)

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Marshals Service and Clear Channel Outdoor enables “hot pursuit messages” to be displayed immediately on any or all of Clear Channel Outdoor’s digital billboards. These emergency messages will come from the Marshals Service and local law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of a crime in a local community. The alert will stay up for the first 30 minutes after it is put up, and will be shown throughout the day – an effort similar to ‘Amber Alert’ efforts.

Implementation of this agreement begins immediately, with Clear Channel Outdoor posting displays about Clyde M. Hall, Jr., 47, a fugitive who was just added to the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitive list. Hall is a career sex offender wanted in the Northern District of New York for violation of federal supervised release. He failed to report to a halfway house in New York after serving a 25-month prison sentence for violations of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act at the Butner Federal Correctional Institute in North Carolina. Hall’s whereabouts remain unknown, and he poses a high degree of danger to the community.

“Clear Channel Outdoor is proud to partner with the U.S. Marshals Service to help track down and capture dangerous criminals throughout the country,” said William Eccleshare, CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor. “This partnership is a perfect example of how Clear Channel Outdoor is part of each local community in which we operate – and an example of our commitment to making local communities better and safer.”

“The U.S. Marshals Service utilizes partnerships with federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement agencies to make our communities safer,” said David Harlow, Assistant Director for Investigative Operations for the U.S. Marshals Service. “The relationship with Clear Channel Outdoor is sure to enhance our abilities to bring criminals to justice.”

In addition to the emergency messages, Clear Channel Outdoor will post Wanted Criminal displays on a space available basis in affected markets. Each local Clear Channel Outdoor market will use the power of digital billboards to alert communities about fugitives and empower them with information to protect themselves and their families and inform police if they have information regarding these fugitives.

The U.S. Marshals Service has worked successfully with Clear Channel Outdoor in the past, using its digital network in Las Vegas in 2009 to help them track a dangerous escaped predator. The new national partnership envisions digital billboards assisting the USMS and local police apprehend other dangerous fugitives before they can inflict further harm.

About Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., (NYSE:CCO) one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies, reaches approximately 141 million people in the United States and approximately 374 million internationally, with more than 600,000 displays in over 40 countries across five continents, including 49 of the 50 largest markets in the United States. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings offers many types of displays across its global platform to meet the advertising needs of its customers. This includes a growing digital platform that now offers 963 digital displays across 37 U.S. markets. Clear Channel International operates in 30 countries across Asia, Australia and Europe in a wide variety of formats.

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50406922&lang=en

Clear Channel Outdoor
Jim Cullinan, (o) 212-812-0064
jimcullinan@clearchannel.com

Source: Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Released September 13, 2012