Fugitive Safe Surrender Comes to Atlantic County April 21-25

Fugitive Safe Surrender – Southern New Jersey Region will enable individuals who are hiding from the law to turn themselves in at a neutral location for four days during the third week of April, 2012.

This will be the fourth and final Fugitive Safe Surrender event held in New Jersey. In November 2008, a total of 2,245 individuals surrendered at the Fugitive Safe Surrender held in Camden.

In November 2009, a total of 4,103 individuals surrendered at the Fugitive Safe Surrender (Northern Region) held in Newark, which was hosted by Essex and Union Counties. In November 2010, a total of 3,901 individuals surrendered at the Fugitive Safe Surrender (Central Region) held in Somerset and New Brunswick, which was hosted by Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset Counties.

A total of more than 10,000 individuals have turned themselves in at previous New Jersey Safe Surrender events. Fugitive Safe Surrender is not an amnesty program. However, those who turn themselves in will receive favorable consideration from the court. This typically results in probation or reduced fines.

The vast majority of those who turn themselves in will not go to jail. Nationwide, about 98 percent of those who turned themselves in were not taken into custody, and were allowed to return home within hours of surrendering. This is because most individuals who turn themselves in are wanted for non-violent crimes and do not have violent criminal histories.

The surrender site for Fugitive Safe Surrender (South Region) will be Grace Assembly of God Church, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When fugitives enter at this location, law enforcement officers will run criminal background checks to learn about their outstanding warrants. After a short wait at the church, the fugitives will be transported a few blocks away, to the nearby Atlantic City Convention Center.

Part of the convention center will be converted into an open courthouse, where the fugitives will work with judges and lawyers to resolve their warrants.

Fugitive Safe Surrender has several benefits, most notably for safety. The U.S. Marshals Service created Fugitive Safe Surrender after a Cleveland police officer was killed while attempting to capture a wanted fugitive.

Fugitive apprehensions are dangerous not just for police but for the fugitives themselves, their families and their communities.

Every fugitive who voluntarily surrenders helps to remove that risk. Fugitive Safe Surrender also allows fugitives to take responsibility for their actions, stop running from the law, clear their warrants, and start building legitimate lives in the community. Fugitive Safe Surrender also provides the opportunity to connect with social service agencies for help with employment, health care, housing, drug rehabilitation and other services.

Who:

• Fugitive Safe Surrender (South) is open to individuals who are wanted by New Jersey law enforcement agencies, on non-violent felony or misdemeanor warrants.
• Individuals wanted for violent crimes, or with previous violent convictions, may also surrender. However, they are more likely to be taken into custody.
• Fugitive Safe Surrender is ONLY open to US citizens and legal residents. Anyone who is not a US citizen or legal resident is NOT eligible for this program.

When: 9 am – 4 pm, Saturday, April 21, 2012 and Monday, April 23, 2012 to Wednesday, April 25, 2012. The program is NOT running on Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Where:

Grace Assembly of God Church
201 Atlantic Avenue
Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401

Background: Fugitive Safe Surrender is an initiative of the U.S. Marshals Service, launched in 2005 in Cleveland, Ohio. Fugitive Safe Surrender (Southern New Jersey Region) is made possible through a partnership led by the United States Marshals Service, the United State Department of Justice, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, the New Jersey State Police, the New Jersey State Parole Board, the New Jersey Department of Corrections, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Key partners include the Police Institute – Rutgers (Newark), Rutgers, the State University - School of Criminal Justice; Grace Assembly of God Church, the Atlantic City Convention Center, and the City of Atlantic City; the County Prosecutor’s Offices, Sheriff’s Offices, and county and local law enforcement from Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties; the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts (and the personnel of Vicinages 1 and 15, which includes the Superior Court and Municipal Courts of New Jersey within the five counties); the New Jersey Office of Information Technology; and the other agencies and organizations at the Federal, State, county, municipal, community and faith-based levels.

--News Release from Atlantic County Sheriff Frank X. Balles.