There are thousands of outstanding warrants in Brooklyn for charges including Loitering, Littering, Consumption of Alcohol in Public, Failure to Have a Dog License and Unlawfully Being in a Park After Hours.
On September 6 and 7, 2013, between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., my office will again offer individuals the opportunity to resolve any outstanding summonses and warrants during Operation Safe Surrender at The Church of the Open Door located at 201 Gold Street, Brooklyn N.Y. 11201.Safe Surrender is a community program that allows Brooklyn residents to come to church and have their outstanding warrants and summonses adjudicated. The program is a partnership between my office, the Brooklyn clergy, the New York State Office of Court Administration, the Legal Aid Society and the NYPD.Project Safe Surrender was first introduced in June of 2009 at Saint Pauls Baptist Church, and has been successfully repeated over the course of the last four years. The individuals who have participated in the past can now qualify for better paying jobs which may require fingerprinting.In addition to allowing participants to re-enter society without low-level crimes holding them back, this program helps by connecting people with vital social services. Our goal is for the community to understand that you can go to court and receive the same quick resolution of these summonses as you can by going to the church.The warrants and summonses that were resolved at previous similar events were for cases in which individuals were charged with any of the following crimes: Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, Consumption of Alcohol in Public, Littering, Riding a Bicycle on the Sidewalk, Trespassing, Loitering, Disorderly Conduct, Unlawful Possession of Alcohol under the Age of 21, Unlawful Possession of Handcuffs, Making Unreasonable Noise, Animal Nuisance, Failure to have a Dog License, Unleashed Dog, Spitting, Unlawfully in a Park After Hours, and Failure to Comply with Posted Signs in a Park.For more information, you can visit
www.projectsafesurrender.org. Additionally, you can call my office at 718-250-3888 or The Rev. Dr. Mark V.C. Taylor at the Church of the Open Door at 718-643-1081. A resource fair and food will be available at the location.
