C-Warrants Can Be Cleared on April 22, 23 at Antioch Baptist Church

A new slant on a federal program will soon offer a two-day opportunity for Brooklyn residents to purge the record of any outstanding petty summonses and summons warrants.Project Safe Surrender (PSS) is a pilot community program that will come to the Antioch Baptist Church, 828 Greene Avenue, from 9 am to 5 pm, April 22 and 23 for residents to adjudicate past violation summons in a safe and non-threatening environment.  “This is not a pardon but it is a solution that is favorable,” said Robert Cornegy, the 56th Democratic Male Assembly District Leader. “Both clergy and law enforcement personnel will be on hand.”The charges to be adjudicated include unlawful possession of alcohol under the age of 21, consumption of alcohol in public, aggressive solicitation, unlawful possession of handcuffs, littering, riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, making unreasonable noise, offensive manner in the street, animal nuisance, failure to have a dog license, unleashed dog, spitting, trespass, disorderly conduct, loitering, unlawfully in the park after hours, and failure to comply with a posted sign in the park.“All Class C summonses will be adjudicated,” said Cornegy, noting that police from the 79th and 81st Precincts are known for writing these kinds of summons.Cornegy said there are about 500,000 of such summons boroughwide and about 67,000 in Bed-Stuy.Cornegy said that should respondents have any misdemeanors or felonies on their records they will not be arrested and have access to the Legal Aid Society as well as the Black Bar Association.Cornegy said the PSS would cost about $250,000 with the office of District Attorney Charles Hynes putting in $200,000.

Then the Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood rallied the community and came up with the other $50,000, he said.Hynes’ spokesperson Jerry Schmetterer said holding the program is a way of helping out local residents.“We are responding to community concerns that some people are afraid to apply for jobs or government services because of the weight of past summonses,” said Schmetterer.Cornegy said following the adjudications residents will also have the opportunity to go to Rev. Youngblood’s Mount Pisgah Baptist Church, 760 DeKalb Avenue, where vital social service agencies that provide assistance in the areas of housing, health, employment, employment training and education will be on hand.To get the word out to the community, Cornegy and volunteers have been putting posters up around the neighborhood. He also is having every tenant association write “Dear Neighbor” letters about the program, and plans to walk the neighborhood with the Organization 125 Men to get the word out.This includes going in the churches, the barbershops, and the parks and wherever else residents might be, he said.(If “Safe Surrender” will make a difference in your life, tell us at the Our Time Press Forum at www.ourtimeathome.com)