Fugitive Surrender Days

This August, fugitives in the Nashville-Davidson County area will be able to turn themselves in, and possibly have a reduced penalty for it.

Nashville is the fifth city in the country to have a Fugitive-Safe Surrender program. A typical police sweep may only result in the arrest of less than a hundred people, but organizers say hundreds of individuals have turned themselves in under the program since it began in 2005.

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas says most of Nashville’s 40-thousand outstanding warrants are for non-violent offenses.

“Most of the warrants in the county are not desperadoes. It’s for people who have minor charges or who have minor misdemeanors hanging over their heads and it interferes with their life. And it interferes with the way our officers have to do our job, so for us it’s an officer and a neighborhood safety issue”

Individuals will be able to turn themselves in to the Galilee Baptist Church at 2021 Herman Street, from August 1st to the fourth.

District Attorney Torry Johnson says each person’s case will be looked at individually, but says his office will take into account the fact that people are voluntarily surrendering.