Fugitive Safe Surrender
Indianapolis, Indiana -
April 25-28, 2007
Fugitive
Safe Surrender in the Indianapolis/Marion County area took place on
April 25-28, 2007, under the leadership of Peter Swaim, United States
Marshal for the Southern District of Indiana. This successful operation
resulted in 531 individuals turning themselves in to law enforcement
over the four-day period.
Encouraged by the success of earlier
Fugitive Safe Surrender
operations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Phoenix, Arizona, Marshal Swaim spent
nearly 18 months working with community and criminal justice leaders to
lay the groundwork for a successful operation in Indianapolis. Reverend
Stephen J. Clay of Messiah Missionary Baptist Church agreed to serve as
the faith-based leader of Fugitive Safe Surrender in Indianapolis
and hosted the surrender days in his church.
Key partners in the Indianapolis/Marion
County Fugitive Safe Surrender operation included the United
States Marshals Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of Indiana, the Messiah Missionary Baptist Church, the Marion
Superior Court, the Marion County Probation Office, the Marion County
Circuit Court, and D.C. Strategic Partners, LLC.
Other key participants included the
Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the Marion County Public Defender’s
Office, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Indianapolis
Metropolitan Police Department, the Marion County Justice Agency, and
the Marion County Community Corrections Director.
In all, 203 felony warrants were cleared.
Each of the individuals who surrendered with an active warrant was seen
by a judge at the Fugitive Safe Surrender site for disposition of
his or her case. Forty-two of the individuals who surrendered were
remanded into custody, and 114 individuals surrendered who had no active
warrants in the jurisdiction.
Individuals who surrendered during the
Indianapolis operation were asked to complete a voluntary survey, and
more than 90% of them did so, thus providing valuable information for
future Fugitive Safe Surrender operations. The vast majority of
those surrendering had heard about the program through television or
print media. Nearly 70% of those surrendering came with a friend or
family member, and most of the program participants indicated that they
wanted to surrender so they could either get a fresh start on life or
get a job. Many also indicated that they were fearful of being arrested
and found surrendering to be an attractive alternative. Forty-four
percent indicated that they desired assistance with job training, while
22% indicated that they desired assistance in completing their
education.
In most cities in which Fugitive Safe
Surrender will take place, the Marshals Service plans to work not
only with the religious and legal/judicial communities, but also with
counseling and job placements services to assist those who seek to turn
their lives around. The majority of participants responding to the
survey in Indianapolis indicated that job training (44%), education
(22%), substance abuse counseling (9%), parenting skills training (8%),
mental health services (8%), and anger management support (6%) were
services that they would find helpful if available to them.
The Marshals Service has enlisted the
assistance of Kent State University to prepare, compile, and analyze the
results of the survey and assist in future Fugitive Safe Surrender
operations. |
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Akron, Ohio
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Camden, New Jersey
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Cleveland, Ohio
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Columbia, South Carolina
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Detroit, Michigan
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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
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Indianapolis, Indiana
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Memphis, Tennessee
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Nashville, Tennessee
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Phoenix, Arizona
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Rochester, New York
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Washington D.C.
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Wilmington, Delaware
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Future Expansion
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