Detroit, MI – United States Marshal Robert M. Grubbs of the Eastern District of Michigan is proud to announce that Detroit’s Fugitive Safe Surrender (FSS) was a record breaking success. The four day operation, which ran from June 4-7, resulted in more than 7,000 individuals turning themselves in to law enforcement which was more than the previous eight FSSs combined.

Marshal Grubbs commended his staff for their hard work and the tremendous hours they put in that made this program a success, but he recognized that without the church and its leaders, the program would not have materialized.

“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, Second Ebenezer Church located at 14601 Dequindre Road in Detroit,” said U.S. Marshal Grubbs.

With an estimated backlog of over 30,000 outstanding warrants in the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Marshal Grubbs 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 Detroit a reality. Of the over 7,000 individuals who turned themselves in, 966 were felonies and 10,534 were misdemeanors.

The numbers of individuals attempting to turn themselves in on outstanding warrants was so great that individuals who had misdemeanor warrants were given vouchers with instructions to contact the city’s district court who would schedule a court date for them to come into court and they would be offered the same “favorable consideration” as if they had seen a Judge at the Church.

The U.S. Marshals Service provided a mobile command center, posted at Detroit’s 36th District Court to assist with the large amount of individuals who received vouchers during the four-day initiative but were unable to be seen by a Judge. Of the 966 felony warrants cleared including one for homicide in commission of a drug trafficking crime, only three were taken into custody. Preliminary estimates are showing that approximately 11,500 warrants were cleared over the four-day operation for the city of Detroit and Wayne County.

Key judicial participants included William J. Giovan Chief Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan, 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 Chief counsel Donald L. Johnson of the State Defender’s Office, as well as the office of the Mayor for the city of Detroit.

Frontline law enforcement partners included Chief Ella M. Bully Cummings, Detroit Police Department; Sheriff Warren C. Evans, Wayne county Sheriff’s Office, Annemarie H. Gibson, Michigan State Police, and Dinah Moore, Regional Administrator for the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Marshal Grubbs would also like acknowledge the efforts of the individuals of the subcommittees who brought their expertise and talents to the table who made Detroit’s Fugitive Safe Surrender the success it was. Particularly, Sidney McBride with Detroit’s Third Circuit Court who chaired the Legal Team, Dwayne Anderson with Detroit’s 36th District Court who headed the Information Technology team, Jeriel Heard, Deputy Chief, with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office who was in charge of security and logistics, Tamela Aikens with the Detroit Community Justice Partnership who brought together all the volunteers at the church, and Peggy Goodwin with the Goodwin Company who was in charge of the Public Awareness subcommittee. Marshal Grubbs also sends a special thank you to Nikki Doby and Keith Hutchings with Second Ebenezer Church who coordinated particulars at the site.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.