Philadelphia doesn't want its fugitives to come back.

A USA Today investigation released this week reported that Philadelphia is a non-extradition county that does not take back fugitives once they cross state lines. With more than 20,000 warrants, most on drug crimes or probation violations, plenty of individuals fled the city before going arrest, attending court or serving their sentence, and the city has let them go. Hundreds of the outstanding Philadelphia warrants from last year were for violent crimes. 

If a runaway is marked as extraditable, police collaborate across borders to return the fugitive. Pennsylvania's non-extradition rate is higher than any other state at 74 percent, thanks to Philadelphia's consistently-practiced policy of marking fugitives as non-extraditable. 

Journalist Brad Heath, who investigated the data-driven report, compiled the information from FBI data as well as interviews with fugitives and city officials. While the report focused more on violent crimes, many of the fugitives that have essentially gotten away with crossing state borders were convicted with minor offenses. Some cities, like Camden, have led programs to address fugitives who have committed minor crimes.