Fugitive Safe Surrender gives people a chance to start anew

Going through life with an out- standing warrant, even for a relatively minor offense, is no way to live.

Yet thousands of people do it, apparently out of fear of the alternative — turning themselves in.

And so they drive knowing in the back of their minds that if they get stopped for a minor infraction, they won’t get a ticket, they’ll get a ride to jail. And even though most courts and police departments are too understaffed to routinely service arrest warrants, there is always the possibility of an unwelcome knock on the door.

At the same time, any police officer knows that serving any warrant or making any vehicle stop has the potential to turn violent — even deadly. Nobody wants to go to jail, and fear, emotions and adrenaline can be a dangerous combination.

For these reasons and more, everyone should be happy that whatever disagreements there may have been among some local officials about hosting a Fugitive Safe Surrender event in Mahoning County have been worked out.

Attorney General Mike DeWine announced recently that safe surrender will be available in Youngstown on Thursday, Sept. 20 through Saturday, Sept. 22 at First Presbyterian Church on Wick Avenue in Youngstown.

Two views of success

DeWine says that some people see the safe surrender program only through the prism of how many warrants were cleared. But he says he has seen the human side. He has seen the relief on the faces of people who take advantage of the program.

We noted when safe-surrender days were held in Warren and Lisbon that this is not a get-out-of-jail free card. But because it is aimed at misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases, the people who walk through the doors are given an opportunity to work with a judge or magistrate on a way of clearing up their warrants, often with agreement on a payment plan for fines or costs.

“I’ve talked to people who turn themselves in. They come in afraid and leave with a huge load off their backs. It puts them back into society,” says DeWine.

Of course the biggest possible payoff is never known, and that is whether a life has been saved by avoiding a violent confrontation down the road.

DeWine’s office coordinates the event, but it takes the cooperation of county and municipal court judges, magistrates and prosecutors, police departments and the sheriff’s office, probation offices and clerks of courts, the bar association, social service agencies and the clergy. Mahoning County has 15,000 outstanding warrants, so all those people could be looking at a few very busy days beginning Sept. 20. And that’s exactly what they’re hoping for.