NEW YORK – New York City’s police commissioner is floating the idea of using an amnesty program to resolve the 1.2 million open arrest warrants for low-level offenses.
William Bratton tells The Associated Press he’s open to discussing some kind of program that notifies people and offers to make their arrest warrants go away if they come forward.
City officials have already announced a series of reforms meant to improve the summons process for minor crimes such as disorderly conduct and drinking in public.
The mayor’s criminal justice coordinator says she’s investigating how to safely reduce the number of outstanding warrants.
Almost 40 percent of the hundreds of thousands of people ticketed last year for minor offenses failed to show up to court, triggering a judge to issue an arrest warrant.
