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“Fugitive Safe Surrender-North Jersey” is operating at Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church, 661 Montgomery Street, Jersey City.
Those wanted for non-violent offenses who turn themselves in will be transported across the street to the Jersey City Armory, where their cases will be handled with the help of Superior Court and municipal court judges, as well as prosecutors and public defenders.
“While Fugitive Safe Surrender is not an amnesty program, those who participate will receive favorable consideration from the court,” , acting state Attorney General John John J. Hoffman said. “This typically results in significantly reduced fines and/or probation requirements instead of incarceration.”
He called it “the best deal you’ll ever find.”
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Can you turn yourself in even if your warrant isn’t from Bergen, Passaic or Hudson? Will attorneys be there to help? Will I go to jail? Find the answers to: Fugitive Safe Surrender FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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“[I]f you participate in this program you will obtain a much better outcome than you will on the street if police have to find you and take you into custody,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.
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.
Fugitive Safe Surrender returns
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 sites were set up in Camden, Newark, Somerset/New Brunswick, and Atlantic City.
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.
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
“Fugitive Safe Surrender-North Jersey” is made possible by a partnership led by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, New Jersey State Parole Board, New Jersey Department of Corrections, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Office of Information Technology, and New Jersey Transit.
Key partners include the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice and the Police Institute at Rutgers-Newark; Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church; the Prosecutor’s and Sheriff’s Offices of Hudson, Bergen, and Passaic counties; the Superior and Municipal Courts of New Jersey, primarily the Hudson and Passaic vicinages; the City of Jersey City and the County of Hudson; county and local law enforcement from Hudson, Bergen, and Passaic counties; and other agencies and organizations at the state, county, municipal, community and faith-based levels.
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