With an estimated backlog of more than 30,000 outstanding warrants in the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Grubbs was eager to bring this initiative to Detroit. For more than a year, Grubbs coordinated with local civic and law enforcement leaders to lay the groundwork to make Fugitive Safe Detroit a reality. Seven thousand individuals turned themselves in, accounting for a total of 966 felonies and 10,534 misdemeanors.
"This initiative could not have happened without the cooperation and assistance of Dr. Edgar L. Vann, pastor of Second Ebenezer Church who offered the use of his beautiful and newly constructed facility Second Ebenezer Church located at 14601 Dequindre Road in Detroit," said Grubbs.
Key judicial participants included William J. Giovan chief judge of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan, Marylin E. Atkins, chief judge of Michigan's 36th District Court, and J. Otis Davis, court administrator of Michigan's 36th District Court. Legal team partners included Stephen J. Murphy, United States attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Prosecuting Attorney Kym L. Worthy of the Wayne County Presecuting Attorney's office, and Chief Counsel Donald L. Johnson of the State Defender's Office, as well as the mayor of the city of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick.
Front-line law enforcement partners included Chief Ella M. Bully Commings, Detroit Police Department; Sheriff Warren C. Evans, Wayne County Sheriff's Office; Annemarie H. Gibson, Michigan State Police; and Dinah Moore, regional administrator for the Michigan Department of Corrections. Another important partner was the Detroit Community Justice Partnership, represented by its executive director, Tamela R. Aikens.
The numbers of individuals attempting to turn themselves in on outstanding warrants was so great that individuals who had misdemeanor warrants were given vouchers with instructions to contact the city's District Court that would schedule a court date for them to come into court and they would be offered the same "favorable consideration" as if they had seen a judge at the church.
The U.S. Marshals Service provided a mobile command center, posted at Detroit's 36th District Court to assist with the large number of individuals who received vouchers during the four-day initiative but were unable to be seen by a judge. More than 950 felony warrants were cleared including one for homicide in commission of a drug trafficking crime and only three were taken into custody. Preliminary estimates are showing that approximately 11,500 warrants were cleared over the four-day operation for Detroit and Wayne County.
