Halifax Regional Police (HRP) will hold its second Voluntary Surrender event on Saturday, October 28, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Captain William Spry Community Centre. Voluntary Surrender enables people with outstanding warrants for non-violent offences to resolve the warrants in a neutral environment, avoiding arrest at home, in front of their family and children, at work or during a traffic stop.

People who attend Voluntary Surrender will have their warrants resolved, which means police will no longer be looking to arrest them, and, in most cases, the warrant will be replaced with a court date. Voluntary Surrender is not an amnesty program; participants will need to appear before the court to answer to pending charges.

The inaugural event in April resulted in 19 warrants being resolved. Twelve people attended, five of whom had more than one outstanding warrant and two of whom thought they had outstanding warrants, but didn’t.

“We were very happy with the success of the first initiative and wanted to make this option available to our community again,” says Inspector Don Moser, HRP’s executive lead on the project. “Our goal is to reduce the number of outstanding warrants in our area by providing another option for people to surrender voluntarily.”

At Voluntary Surrender, a booking area will be set up so that officers can process warrants. Legal Aid lawyers will be on-site to provide counsel. Also, referral information for various community services and supports will be available.

Voluntary Surrender is tailored to people with warrants for non-violent offences, but individuals with an outstanding warrant(s) for any type of offence may participate. Unlike those with warrants for non-violent offences, however, individuals with warrants for violent offences will likely be taken into custody.

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Source: Media Release