They are wanted men and women who have outstanding warrants but will they be brought to justice?

A Channel 6 News investigation found thousands of fugitives in Douglas County who have active criminal warrants.

Nebraska law requires law enforcement agencies to serve all warrants.

But during our investigation Channel 6 News found many, including some dating back years, are never acted upon.

Channel 6 went searching for one of the fugitives with an outstanding warrant: Edward Anderson.

He's wanted for driving under the influence.

His blood alcohol level, police say, was double the legal limit

It's his third DUI arrest.

He's also wanted for driving with a suspended license, and negligent driving.

We soon ran into Anderson's friends.

Reporter: "We are looking for Edward"

Friend #1: "Well, he ain't here. That ain't Edward."

Reporter: "The gentleman in the blue shirt, the dark blue shirt."

Friend #1: "No."

Reporter: "He sure looks like the picture we have of him."

Friend #1: "I'm telling you right now go someplace else."

Anderson is just one of thousands of fugitives living free in the metro with little or no concern of being arrested.

We found many don't even make much of an attempt to hide.

To give you a sense of just how many active warrants there are in Douglas County, we could put one in each seat at UN-Omaha’s Caniglia Field and fill every seat in the stadium and still have enough left over to do it all.

It all adds up to more than 20,000 warrants.

"You have people ignoring the law," says Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine.

Don Kleine knows we have a problem.

The sheriff and the police departments do, too.

Sgt. John Hamill says "It comes down to a matter of numbers.

Between both departments, the police and sheriff have 11 people serving warrants.

To clear the 20,000 active warrants in the county, and do it in 12 months, each officer would have to serve 1,800 warrants.

"That's the nature of the game," says Hamill.

And remember, new warrants are being issued every day.

Officer Bill Dropinski of the Omaha Police Department says "It's impossible to serve every single warrant."

Channel 6 News was there as deputies arrested one man wanted on drug charges successfully.

But many other attempts fall flat.

People move, give incorrect addresses, won't answer the door, and some times they're really just not home.

"That's a frustration that we deal with on a daily basis," says Hamill.

While the problems are many, the one message sent to fugitives is clear: No one's coming to arrest you.

"Certainly, we don't want that message to be sent,” says Kleine.

Reporter: “But do you think that's what some people think?”

Kleine: "I think it is what some people think. I think you are right."

We need to look no further than the case of Edward Anderson to know for some the message is true.

Reporter: "Does he know he has a warrant out for his arrest?

Friend #2: "Oh he does? (sarcasm) That's too bad. He'll have to take care of it, won't he> Nothing you can do about it."

After we completed our investigation Edward Anderson obtained an attorney.

Just Tuesday a judge recalled his warrant temporarily contingent upon Anderson showing up for his new trial date.

His original trial was scheduled for May 12th of last year.

The 20,000 people in Douglas County with warrants on the street include a mix of misdemeanors and felonies.

Felonies are given a higher priority.

It really is a chance encounter with law enforcement that ends up determining which warrants are served.