Sheriffs and prosecutors are trying to convince the state legislature in Iowa that residency restrictions just don't work:
A group of county prosecutors, county sheriffs and victim advocates said a law designed to limit where sex offenders can live is actually hurting, not helping protect the public.
The sex offender residency law requires convicted sex offenders to register their address with law enforcement and live at least 2,000 feet away from schools and child-care centers.
Those who enforce the law said it's just not working.
"It places restrictions on where they lay their head down and where they sleep, but it doesn't keep them out of our parks or out of our schools, and out of day-care centers," said Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow.
Krukow said the law was based on good intentions, but it's just not working.
The opposition groups seek to replace the current scheme with a variety of measures including anti-loitering type "safe zones":
The group’s plan includes:
• Replacing existing state and local residency restrictions with child safe zones, which would prevent convicted sex offenders from entering schools and child care centers without prior permission.
• Expanding some crimes and penalties aimed at sex offenders. For example, the group wants to make it a crime for adults to use authority to cause children to engage in sex acts or exploit a person “reasonably believed to be a minor."
• Funding more “cybercrime” agents who work for the Division of Criminal
Investigation
• Spending $500,000 more on sex abuse prevention
• Funding more treatment and risk assessments for sex offenders before they
are released from prisons
• Using real-time GPS monitoring for the most serious offenders
• Requiring sex offenders to register with sheriffs more often than once annually
• Establishing an ongoing sex offender treatment and supervision task force.
The Department of Correction and/or the District Attorney are the first line of defense to ensure that dangerous individuals, those identified as Sexual Predators, aren’t released from prisons. The “Sexually Dangerous and/or Civil Commitment Law” was passed by every State, but you only see this law applied in very few intense. The only ones you do see or hear about are the ones that have made “National Headlines”. Why isn’t the District Attorney Office pursuing more cases of Sexually Dangerous and/or Civil Commitment hearings? The most effective way is not being put to use.
In order to eradicate the problem, the State has to make sure that all viable effort is being made on the front lines.¹ That means offering sex offender programs at whatever the cost.Not waiting for another crime to be committed and enacting new laws.
¹ A study conducted by Waltham based BOTEC Analysis Corporation showed that inmates participating in appropriate programs re-offended at a rate of 50 percent lower than other inmates over the first year of their release.
Posted by: Cecilio Cruz | January 05, 2007 at 07:58 PM