LACP.org
 
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Project Safe Surrender 2011
Some hope grows in Brooklyn
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Hope for at-risk kids in Brooklyn
   Project Safe Surrender 2011

Some hope grows in Brooklyn

by Bill Murray

LA Community Policing

March 27, 2011

 

Over the weekend I saw an intruding radio talk show title which piqued my curiosity. So I not only tuned in but I called them. I spoke to both the show's host, who goes by the moniker "Bathabile," as well to one of the Project Safe Surrender coordinators, Rev. Jones.

Turns out they've a program planned in Brooklyn, NY, which should do a great deal to help the at-risk youth and others with low-level violations in their community! I was delighted to be able to participate on-air, and answer a few questions.

Here's the link to the radio talk show, which was recorded. You can now hear it on-demand:

NEW TOPIC! Police in the Church?

Show description: On Friday and Saturday, April 22 & 23, Antioch Baptist Church in Brooklyn will host Project Safe Surrender - a program where judges set up a makeshift courtroom at the church so that people who have warrants on low-level violations can come and have their cases adjudicated. Considering the historical and recent state of the relationship between communities of color and the criminal justice system, is it a good idea to have the church collaborating with the police and the courts in this way? What about the separation of church and state? Attorney Andrew March joins me to explain the legal process.

Here's the info from the web site:


Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood
M. Pisgah Baptist Church
760 DeKalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216

PROJECT SAFE SURRENDER 2011

BE SET FREE FROM YOUR
C-SUMMONS/WARRANTS!!!

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Contact: Anita Alexander
(718) 388-3900 ext. 46

Anita@projectsafesurrender2011.org

Rev. Robert Waterman
Antioch Baptist Church
828 Green Avenue
Brooklyn, NY  11221


Brooklyn clergy will be partnering with the Brooklyn District Attorneys' Office, New York State Office of Court Administration, the Legal Aid Society and the NYC Police Department to implement Project Safe Surrender on April 22-23, 2011 from 9-5 p.m.

What is Project Safe Surrender

Project Safe Surrender (PSS) is a pilot community program that helps individuals resolve summons/warrants. An added benefit of this program is that it also helps individuals re-enter society by connecting them with vital social assistance in the areas of health, housing, employment, employment training and education.

This program was inspired by a successful United States Marshall's initiative in 2006 called “Fugitive Safe Surrender” in which 14 cities participated and over 40,000 people surrendered voluntarily.

Brooklyn New York borrowed from the “Fugitive Safe Surrender” initiative and created their own program strictly for residents of Brooklyn called “Project Safe Surrender”. Brooklyn clergy, partnering with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, the New York State Office of Court Administration, the Legal Aid Society and the New York City Police Department offer the opportunity for individuals with warrants/summons to turn themselves in to clergy and law enforcement and to have their warrants/summons lifted and their cases adjudicated in a safe environment. This is not a pardon; but rather a solution that is favorable.

On April 22-23, 20011, Project Safe Surrender will open its doors at Antioch Baptist Church and Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church for people who have open warrants/summons for the following charges:

· Unlawful possession of Alcohol under age 21

· Consumption of Alcohol in Public

· Aggressive Solicitation

· Unlawful possession of handcuffs

· Littering

· Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk

· Making unreasonable noise

· Animal nuisance

· Failure to have a dog license

· Unleashed dog

· Spitting

· Trespassing

· Disorderly conduct

· Loitering

· Unlawfully in a park after hours

· Failure to comply with posted signs in park

Hotline to District Attorney's Office (718) 250-3888