Fugitive Safe Surrender
Detroit, Michigan –
June 4-7, 2008
Fugitive Safe Surrender
in the Detroit/Wayne County area took place in early June 2008, under
the leadership of Robert M. Grubbs, United States Marshal for the Eastern
District of Michigan.
Over the
course of the four-day surrender period, more than
6,500 individuals with
outstanding warrants took the opportunity to surrender to law
enforcement and help pave the way for a more successful future. As a
result of an extensive media and public outreach campaign, thousands of
people attempted to take advantage of the program, with many standing in
line for hours waiting for the gates to open, and many more waiting even
longer for processing, warrant checks, and a chance to see a judge.
Fugitive Safe Surrender – Detroit
was the ninth operation, and turnout far surpassed all expectations.
With an estimated
backlog of over 30,000 outstanding warrants in the city of Detroit and
Wayne County, the Marshals Service was eager to bring this initiative to
Detroit. For over a year, Marshal Grubbs coordinated with local civic and law
enforcement leaders to lay the groundwork to make Fugitive Safe
Surrender - Detroit
a reality. At the conclusion of the operation,
the Marshal expressed his appreciation for the program’s main partner, saying
that “this
initiative could not have happened without the cooperation and
assistance of Dr. Edgar L. Vann, Pastor of Second Ebenezer Church, who
offered the use of his beautiful and newly constructed facility.”
Conceived
of by Peter J. Elliott, United States Marshal for the Northern District
of Ohio, after the death of Cleveland Police Officer Wayne Leon at the
hands of a wanted fugitive,
Fugitive Safe Surrender
is a powerful and popular initiative that encourages persons wanted for
felony or misdemeanor crimes to voluntarily surrender to the law in a
faith-based location. The program now has been adopted as a national
USMS-sponsored initiative.
The doors of Second
Ebenezer Church opened at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 4th,
and for four straight days, individuals wanted for a variety of offenses
waited and eagerly anticipated their turn to take a first step at a
second chance. Assisted by local advertising and a word-of-mouth
campaign organized by Pastor Vann, Marshal Grubbs, U.S. Attorney Stephen
J. Murphy, and other community leaders, as well as news items on
television and in the print media, more than 1,000 individuals presented
themselves each day for adjudication of their outstanding warrants.
The large
numbers of individuals who attempted to surrender caused Marshals
Service organizers, court officials, and the judiciary to develop
alternative processing procedures.
The turnout was so
overwhelming that it became necessary to close the gates by late
morning. Although there were five courtrooms in operation each day, the
sheer volume of cases presented was larger than what could be
accommodated by the judiciary and court personnel. As a result,
individuals who had misdemeanor warrants were given vouchers with
instructions to contact the city’s district court to schedule a later
court date, with the understanding that if they followed through and
returned to court, they would be offered the same “favorable
consideration” as if they had seen a judge at the church. The Marshals
Service is assisting the 36th District Court in
authenticating those vouchers and arranging future court dates and
posted a mobile command center at the courthouse to expedite the
processing.
Preliminary results
showed that approximately 6,570
individuals surrendered over the program’s four days. Approximately
2,700 were processed inside
the church, including approximately
340 parole or probation violators. Another
3,800 were processed at
mobile units posted in the church parking lot, with approximately
3,200 of those receiving
vouchers. Approximately 750
(or 11%) of the people
who appeared at the church found that they had no active warrants
against them, further illustrating the benefit of the program. Those
individuals can now move forward in their lives and become productive
members of society by obtaining driver’s licenses, and finding
meaningful employment. In all, it is estimated that more than
11,000 warrants were cleared,
including at least 165
felony warrants. Only three individuals were arrested.
In addition to Pastor
Vann and the leadership of Second Ebenezer Church, key partners in
Fugitive Safe
Surrender – Detroit included The Honorable William J.
Giovan, Chief Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan; The
Honorable Marylin E. Atkins, Chief Judge of Michigan’s 36th District
Court; and J. Otis Davis, Court Administrator of Michigan’s 36th
District Court. Legal team partners included Stephen J. Murphy, United
States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Prosecuting
Attorney Kym L. Worthy of the Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney’s
Office, and Donald L. Johnson, Chief Counsel of the State Defender’s
Office, as well as the Office of the Mayor.
Frontline law
enforcement partners included Chief Ella M. Bully Cummings, Detroit
Police Department; Sheriff Warren C. Evans, Wayne County Sheriff’s
Office; Captain Annemarie H. Gibson, Michigan State Police; and Dinah Moore,
Regional Administrator for the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Waiting for processing at Second Ebenezer Church, Detroit. |
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