"Safe Surrender" Inspires Non-Guilty To Turn Themselves In

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Last week NJ was host to its third "Safe Surrender" program, which allows fugitives with open warrants for non-violent crimes "favorable consideration" for turning themselves in. Almost 4,000 people turned themselves in over four days in Franklin, NJ, including a woman with 90 traffic tickets. But it seems that a considerable amount of people haven't kept very good track of their petty crimes: About 550 people showed up only to discover they weren’t wanted on any kind of warrant.

"Oddly enough, that’s true. For some people, this seemed to be a way to check: Do I have a warrant or not? Or maybe some people didn’t know they had a case dismissed," said state parole board spokesman Neal Buccino.

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By Ben Yakas in News on November 10, 2010 4:50 PM

Comments [rss]

Erök

Wish I knew about this earlier.

chuzzlewit

do we have this in nyc?

i heard about someone who missed a court date and, ah, they wanted to get that straightened out, you know, but weren't sure how to go about that.

JacqueMehoff

Yeah, there's a way for you to check. Ride your bicycle on the last Friday of every month or ride on the sidewalk. A nice officer will tell you if you have a warrant. Don't even need to go to them, They come to you.

sj

Sure, just pick a day when you don't have anything planned for the rest of the day (and NOT a Friday!), head to the local precinct and kindly ask them to check if you have a warrant because you think you...I mean your friend missed a court date. If yes, arrest & process. If not, enjoy the rest of your day. Easy! :-)