Milwaukee Initiative Aims To Help Those With Outstanding Arrest Warrants

An array of community groups in Milwaukee are teaming up with the county’s court system to encourage people with outstanding arrest warrants to turn themselves in and clear their records.

An estimated 20,000 people in Milwaukee have active arrest warrants, many for nonviolent drug offenses or a failure to pay traffic fines. Reverend Willie Brisco of the prison reform group Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope said the goal of the Safe Surrender program is to offer those people a chance to own up to their offense, avoid jail time and resolve their charges through a payment plan or community service.

Over the next year, MICAH and 10 other groups will work with the district attorney and the chief judge of Milwaukee County to compile a list of 500 to 1,000 offenders eligible for the program.

“The greatest advantage is to free people up and give them a sense of belonging to the community again — that they can come out from the shadows and start training and applying for work and participating,” said Brisco.

Similar projects have been successful in Ohio, New Jersey and New Mexico. In Milwaukee, the plan is to hold a Safe Surrender event next May at a church where people who have agreed to sign an memorandum of agreement can come and to resolve their charges. The agreement will also include access to health care services, housing assistance and job training.

The project, which is funded by a grant from the Medical College of Wisconsin, will also include assistance in helping participants expunge their criminal record to make it easier for them find a job.

Another goal of the project is advocate for a city ordinance that would establish a permanent safe surrender policy to reduce the negative health impacts of outstanding arrest warrants.