I took a client today to turn himself in under the ”Safe Surrender" fugitive at large program at the Galilee Baptist Church, over on Herman Street. The program has been running since Monday and to say it's been busy is an understatement. My client was turning himself in fir outstanding “Driving on a Suspended License” beef that was about 8 months old- certainly not their biggest "catch" of the day - but another warrant executed and off the books, for sure.
When we arrived at the church, there were numerous cars and suvs around, but no cop cars or other prisoner transport vehicles were seen.
Niiiccceeee.
We pulled into the parking lot and walked up to a well-marked entrance for “participants.” We were immediately greeted by a number of very friendly and caring volunteers sporting some very bitchin "Safe Surrender" t-shirts, and were quickly but calmly escorted to the door. As we entered, a couple of sheriff’s deputies politely asked us to empty our pockets into a bin and then passed us through a metal detector – it was no different than a standard airport screen and no “frisking” took place.
We were sent to a table of volunteers who took the pertinent info and placed a red wrist bracelet on my client and a green one on me. I was then told I would be able to accompany my client through the entire process if I so desired, and they directed us to a waiting area in the church, complete with snacks and bottles of water on ice. Everyone in this area was wandering around freely and without fear, and while there were tons of cops from every branch of law enforcement, it was really about as non-threatening as it could be, what with tons of cops swarming about.
Sitting there chatting with my client in the waiting area gave me an opportunity to check out the joint, and I’m telling you, they were smooth as silk and ready for serious "criminal" intake. I counted somewhere between 50 and 75 actual employees (law enforcement personnel), another 30-40 volunteers, 29 computers set up for processing, two fingerprint stations, a mugshot area and two portable AC blowers cranking out cool breezes, all within the main waiting/processing area.
Although I didn’t see much of this, I knew that in the inner recesses of the church, judges and DA’s were tucked away, making deals and presiding over hearings. I saw cops from the US Marshall’s office, the state probation/parole, local boys, sheriffs, and even thought I saw some Fed folks there as well, although I couldn’t be sure. Most of the cops were dressed in street clothes, with badges hung “dick” style off their belts. There were sidearms aplenty in there though, as this was still a serious business, but for the most part, it was informal enough to remain calm and fairly relaxed.
After about 5 minutes, a woman came to gather additional info and present us with a voluntary survey. About 10 minutes after that, my client was called and directed to the fingerprinting area. He was printed via an electronic imager, then photographed. Another 10 minutes and he was taken in front of a judge. The judge reviewed his charges and sentenced him to 4 hours of community service, sent him packing and he was out of the building in less than an hour.
As I understand it, the program ends tomorrow (Saturday) at 5pm, so if you or anyone you might know has a warrant that needs attention, now is the time to attend to it. Not only will it end the hassle of dealing with a pending warrant, allowing the individual to get on with one’s life, but when I was talking to one of the guys about what's going to happen after the time limit ends to those who are arrested with outstanding warrants and were too dumb to turn themselves in on this deal, he said simply, "we're gonna break it off in em."
Yikes.
Safe Surrender – get it done and get on with yer bad self…
