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Individuals with Open Warrants: Motivations for Surrendering at a Church
Individuals with open warrants are an understudied population who face significant obstacles in life. The Fugitive Safe Surrender (FSS) program provides a safer environment for individuals with warrants to turn themselves into law enforcement. Individuals surrender at a church where different components of the criminal justice system are set up to handle outstanding warrants. While there has been published research on Fugitive Safe Surrender1, much has yet to be learned about this population, including why individuals surrender. This exploratory study describes the participants across four of the sites by examining whether participant demographics and criminogenic factors were associated with warrant type. This study also explores reasons for program engagement.
Methods:
This is a multi-site study and data presented here are from across 4 cities where n = 945 individuals who had misdemeanor or felony warrants and where data could be linked (total 4-city participants = 5,887). Data were captured in waves between 2009 and 2010. Data utilized for the analysis are responses from a 20-item self-report survey completed by participants as well as from administrative data on warrant type. Chi-Square and T-tests were used to examine the relationships between warrant status, employment, educational attainment, drug use, age of first arrest and number of times incarcerated. Logistic regression models were used to predict factors associated with FSS participation.
Results:
Participants were mostly non-white (89%) and male (66%), with an average age of 36. The majority (84%) had been previously arrested and 22% had at least one open felony warrant. Most common services requested were job training (50%) and housing (33%). We compared individuals with felonies to those with only misdemeanors. Misdemeanants were more likely to have completed a higher level of education (p < .05). Groups were similar in employment status, drug use, and age of first arrest (M = 21, mode = 18, range = 10-44). For individuals who were previously incarcerated, both felons and misdemeanants were incarcerated an average of 4 times. After controlling for demographics, individuals who surrendered because they were tired of running were more likely to have a felony warrant and more likely to have been previously incarcerated. Individuals who surrendered for their kids were more likely to have a felony warrant and more likely to have been previously incarcerated.
Conclusions and Implications:
This exploratory study helps to understand who surrenders at FSS and why. Felony and misdemeanor individuals are mostly similar on demographics, but depending on warrant status, they reported different motivation to surrender. Individuals with felony warrants were more likely to surrender for family reasons but also because they were tired of running. An implication is that FSS should continue to be held in a nonthreatening place like a church, because the church creates a safe place to surrender. FSS provides a valuable mechanism to safely reintegrate individuals back into the criminal justice system and to be productive members of society.
1Flannery, D. J., & Kretschmar, J. M. (2012). Fugitive Safe Surrender. Criminology & Public Policy, 11(3), 437-459.