BPD offering annual Clear Your Warrant Day beginning this Wednesday

If you've got a warrant out for your arrest, you may have a chance to clear your name this week thanks to a program offered by Bakersfield Police.

The annual Clear Your Warrant Day will begin on Wednesday, June 22 at Jefferson Park at 801 Bernard St. and run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Rather than arresting and booking suspects, police are hoping to issue citations instead for people who meet specific requirements.

See BPD's press release below for more information on other dates and locations:

PRESS RELEASE FROM BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT

The Bakersfield Police Department currently has 9,961 active misdemeanor warrants. A large majority of these warrants are nonviolent in nature; including property related offenses and vehicle code violations. To address the large backlog, the Bakersfield Police Department Warrant/Fugitive Detail will be organizing several events to give individuals with non-violent citable warrants the opportunity to receive a citation with a new court date. This is being done in an effort to reduce the number of active, non-violent, citable warrants in the City of Bakersfield. Individuals who participate in this program and fit the following criteria will receive a citation with a new court date and will not be booked into jail.

The following warrants are NOT eligible for a citation:

1) Any Felony

2) The misdemeanor cited in the warrant involves violence (including domestic violence).

3) The misdemeanor cited in the warrant involves a firearm.

4) The misdemeanor cited in the warrant involves resisting arrest.

5) The misdemeanor cited in the warrant involves giving false information to officers.

6) The warrant of arrest indicates that the person is not eligible to be released on a notice to appear.

We have identified three locations to conduct these operations. To allow as many people to attend as possible, we have scheduled these events to take place on different dates over the course of two weeks. Officers will be available to issue misdemeanor warrant citations at each location between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. The dates and locations of these events are:

Jefferson Park- 801 Bernard St. Wednesday, June 22, 2016 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)

Patriots Park-1600 New Stine Rd. Thursday, June 23, 2016 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)

MLK Park-1000 S. Owens St. Wednesday, June 29, 2016 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)