By Dave Bullard/WRVO
SYRACUSE, NY – Syracuse Police completed the third phase of a three-part crackdown with the arrest of more than 300 people with outstanding warrants.
The effort, called Operation Rolling Thunder, came after the department and the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department rolled out a joint, searchable database of outstanding warrants on their websites, and after a limited amnesty program convinced 307 people to turn themselves in in exchange for potentially lighter treatment.
There are more than 5,800 active arrest warrants in Onondaga County.
"People are arrested and warrants are issued on a daily basis," said Syracuse Police Sgt. John Savage. "Obviously, we prioritize the felonies, violent crimes ahead of a traffic ticket or open container warrant" on an average day, he said.
The special effort allowed police to arrest people with outstanding warrants for relatively minor crimes and infractions. It "really helped us address the day-to-day issues that are the complaints from the general public," Savage said.
Officials warned that this would not be the last special effort to hunt down people who are ignoring warrants.