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Acting state Attorney General John John J. Hoffman will join with the directors of key law enforcement, education and community-based organizations to announce the program’s return this Wednesday.
As before, a church will be the receiving area. A criminal check will be run on those who show up before they’re taken before judges in dozens of courtrooms set up in nearby schools and other facilities able to handle the anticipated crowds.
In 2010, the last year that “Fugitive Safe Surrender” operated nationwide, more than 4,000 fugitives turned up in New Jersey, nearly the same number as the year before.
An extremely small amount end up behind bars, state authorities said. For one thing, felons don’t come. Those people who do most times are able to either ante up up on the spot or make payment arrangements.
“Fugitive Safe Surrender” has been a major success nationwide. Cleveland holds the record with 7,500 fugitives surrendering during the last four-day initiative in 2010, followed by Detroit with 6,500 two years earlier.
In New Jersey more than 13,000 fugitives have come forward for anything from a parking ticket to aggravated assault since the state Parole Board began sponsoring the program in November 2008.
The alternative, of course, is the prospect of a raid by U.S. marshals or county sheriff’s officers, any of which could lead to harm for them, their loved ones, public servants or innocent bystanders.
Over the past several years, dozens of police officers nationwide have been killed confronting wanted fugitives, many of whom were wanted for minor, non-felony offenses, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Cleveland launched the first safe-surrender program in the U.S. in 2005, in fact, after a fugitive wanted on a parole violation shot and killed a police officer during a traffic stop.
There are also long-term benefits of not having to use officers to pursue and capture those with outstanding warrants.
Be clear: It’s not amnesty. It’s an opportunity for a debtor to society to make things right.
For the state, it’s a also money-saver: Estimates are that each person who voluntarily surrenders on a non-violent municipal offense — such as unpaid parking fees — represents a savings of roughly $420, including the cost of the average 2½-day jail stay and the labor invested in tracking, arresting, transporting and processing.
Then you’ve got the owed money they pony up, which go into municipal coffers — as well as the increased odds that someone with a cleaned slate can get a job and contribute to the economy.
Several hundred volunteers — coordinated by Rutgers University — will be needed to help with the effort. More on that, as well as the locations and other details of the program, will be announced Wednesday.
Among those expected to attend the news conference at Hoffman’s Halsey Street office in Newark are state Parole Board Chairman James J. Plousis, Prosecutors John L. Molinelli (Bergen), Camelia M. Valdes (Passaic) and Gregory T. Gaetano (Hudson/acting), as well as Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari and Tom O’Reilly, executive director of the Rutgers Police Institute.
NOTES:
- Those who owe child support still must good on all of it.
- DWIs not included.
- Only U.S. citizens or residents allowed.
MORE INFO: www.fssnj.com
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