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Kzoo holds second annual amnesty day, job fair

Posted at 6:35 PM, May 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-17 18:35:11-04

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The City of Kalamazoo hosted its second annual amnesty day Friday to help people get non-violent misdemeanor charges cleared from their record.

The city and police also had over 20 companies at the event Friday to set up interviews with people who were there to clean up their lives.

“Some people have warrants, and it prohibits them from getting jobs,” said Vernon Coakley, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety assistant chief. “So learning that, I thought about amnesty day, I talked with our court administrators, our city attorneys, our prosecutor, (and thought) ‘what can we do?’ And we came up with this idea.”

Kalamazoo police say they hope the event will show the human side of officers.

“We’re human too, and this is a career for us, and this is the path that we chose, ad these officers are here to facilitate the needs of people, to direct them where they need to go so they can get what they need to facilitate their service projects” Coakley said.