http:\/\/twitter.com\/lensipes<\/a>.<\/p>\n[Audio Begins]<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks: This is Cedric Hendricks for DC Public Safety.\u00a0 With us today is Mr. Willie Jones, and were talking with Mr. Jones about DC Safe Surrender.\u00a0 Mr. Jones, you were a participant in Safe Surrender when it was first done in 2007.\u00a0 How did that come to take place?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 I had an outstanding warrant for a failure to appear and I heard about the program and I thought I would check it out and get involved.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks:\u00a0 And what happened after you came down.\u00a0 What was the experience?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 Well, it was a very good experience.\u00a0 I came in, they got rid of the warrant and got me out right away.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks: And how has your life changed since that day?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 My life has elevated so much.\u00a0 I got a District Government job.\u00a0 I got my family back; a lot of things; just, my life has progressed so much.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks: Well, now DC Safe Surrender is taking place again and what words would you share with others who are out in the community now with outstanding warrants?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 I would encourage them to do the right thing.\u00a0 Turn yourself in.\u00a0 The decision you make today affects your tomorrow.\u00a0 If you make a good decision today, you\u2019ll have a good tomorrow.\u00a0 If you make a bad decision today, you\u2019ll have a bad tomorrow.\u00a0 I would say to the people out there now, do the right thing, do it now.\u00a0 I did it.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks:\u00a0 And to family members out there who have a loved one who they know has an outstanding warrant, is there a message that you would offer them?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 I would tell them to encourage them, come with them, support them, give them the strength and let them know that\u2019s the right thing to do.\u00a0 That\u2019s the same way my family did with me.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks:\u00a0 Now when Safe Surrender took place back in 2007, it was at Bible Way Church and this time it\u2019s taking place at the DC Superior Court House.\u00a0 Does that matter in how this should be considered by an individual with an outstanding warrant?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 Well let me give you a different outlook now because the last time it was at the church.\u00a0 This time it\u2019s at the courthouse.\u00a0 And a lot of people think because there\u2019s cells there, it\u2019s the courthouse, just the courthouse itself makes them think.\u00a0 But I would encourage anyone that I know, I\u2019m involved with this Safe Surrender program, I wouldn\u2019t mislead anyone to do anything that I didn\u2019t think would benefit them.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks:\u00a0 And I think you are right.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s important to point out that in 2007, there were 530 individuals that came in and surrendered and 98% of them walked out the same day.<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 Yes they did and I was one of the first one.\u00a0 And I was processed in and out in 15 minutes. So like I said at first, I encourage anyone if you\u2019ve got an outstanding warrant, on the 13th of August, on the 20th of August and the 27th, come on down and make the right decision.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks:\u00a0 Now let\u2019s just say a bit about what happened.\u00a0 When you saw a Judge there, that matter you had pending wasn\u2019t squashed all together, but you got another date to come back.\u00a0 What went on after that?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 When I came in, I saw the Judge; he said \u201cyou\u2019ve got a failure to appear warrant; I\u2019m going to get rid of the warrant and give you another court date and I\u2019m quite sure you\u2019ll be there.\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cYes Sir\u201d because it\u2019s like a second chance.\u00a0 They just give you a chance to do the right thing.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks: Now you talked about how your failure to appear was inspired to some degree by you sitting in that Judge\u2019s courtroom and seeing folks getting sent away.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what gave you some concern about your fate might be and led you to fail to appear.<\/p>\n
Willie Jones:\u00a0 Yes. I saw a guy that I grew up with that was in the courtroom in front of me.\u00a0 And the Judge said, \u201cYes\u201d.\u00a0 He told the Judge, \u201cI\u2019ve done everything you\u2019ve told me to do\u201d. And she said, \u201cYes you did, but your past; your history; made me the decision to give you 60 months\u201d. And I got up and left.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks:\u00a0 And then after having left, and then coming and surrendering in the Safe Surrender event, you were back in front of a Judge with your history, some would say, having been made worse by the failure to appear.\u00a0 But you didn\u2019t get the outcome that that other individual got.\u00a0 What happened with you when you finally were sentenced?<\/p>\n
Willie Jones: I got 18 months probation and she said that since I did turn myself in, it made a difference.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks: Well, all right.\u00a0 That\u2019s really what it\u2019s all about. You know, giving people I guess the benefit of them having come in and surrendered and coming away with it all with a positive opportunity to do the right thing.<\/p>\n
Willie Jones: That\u2019s right.\u00a0 Definitively.\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n
Cedric Hendricks: We\u2019ll we\u2019ve been talking with Mr. Willie Jones, who was the first person to surrender back in 2007 when Safe Surrender took place and we appreciate you coming out and speaking in support of this DC Safe Surrender.\u00a0 Thank you Mr. Jones.<\/p>\n
Willie Jones: Thank you Mr. Cedric.<\/p>\n
[Audio Ends]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
See http:\/\/media.csosa.gov for our television shows, blog and transcripts. Radio Program available at http:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/audio\/2011\/07\/dc-safe-surrender-an-interview-with-willie-jones-first-participant-of-2007s-fugitive-safe-surrender\/ We welcome your comments or suggestions at leonard.sipes@csosa.gov or at Twitter at http:\/\/twitter.com\/lensipes. [Audio Begins] Cedric Hendricks: This is Cedric Hendricks for DC Public Safety.\u00a0 With us today is Mr. Willie Jones, and were talking with Mr. Jones about DC Safe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,12,14,21],"tags":[86,90],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audiopodcast","category-fugitivesafesurrender","category-interviews-with-offenders","category-whatworks","tag-dc-safe-surrender","tag-willie-jones","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pBoKk-bm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":707,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.csosa.gov\/podcast\/transcripts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}