ALACHUA COUNTY -

     44 counties in Florida led a felony warrants sweep, resulting in 12,000 arrests across the state, and many in Alachua County.    

     The Alachua County Sheriff's office participated in the initiative, where they arrested 187 people and siezed almost $10,000 dollars and almost 1,200 hundred grams of marijuana.

     The warrants division at the Sheriff's Office does this daily - and with felonies ranging from homicide to battery, Lt. Todd Kelly says things can get intense.

     "Its  a very dangerous job - you are dealing with people who are wanted for very serious crimes, and often times they know they are wanted and they don't want to go back to jail

     The sweep lasted for three weeks.

     Sgt. David Tuck from the warrants division says that in the last five to seven years, they have reduced the number of outstanding warrants from 15,000 to about 2,000.