A Green Bay, Wisconsin city official who questioned a proposed local residency law has apparently been heard by the city leaders in nearby Manitowoc. Manitowoc officials are now looking for other ways to handle sex offender residency. From WBAY:
The City of Manitowoc is going back to the drawing board to look for ways to handle sex offenders living in the community.
Wednesday night, a panel of city leaders rejected a plan to limit where offenders can live.
The Department of Corrections says a residency ordinance makes it more difficult to keep track of offenders and therefore monitor their behavior.
Several local communities already restrict where sex offenders can live. Green Bay raised the bar two years ago by saying sex offenders cannot live within 2,000 feet of places kids hang out.
But authorities say the city is not any safer.
Jerry Wiezbiskie was one of two alders who opposed the law in 2007. He said he believed people like Tom Smith from the Department of Corrections who told leaders in Manitowoc Wednesday what he told leaders in Green Bay.
"They come into law enforcement to register out of good faith and say, 'I'm a sex offender, I'm moving into your community, and this is where I'm going to be living.' They're told you can't live in our community because we have a residency restriction, do you know what happens? We no longer hear from those people again," Smith told the Manitowoc committee.
And he had statistics to back it up. In Brown County, the number of offenders who go "underground" -- don't tell the DOC where they live -- doubled in a year, from 14 in 2007 to 31 in 2008.
"Tells me it's not working very well, just like I predicted," Wiezbiskie said.
Some city leaders who originally voted for the ordinance are no longer on the council, but Wiezbiskie says some who are still on the council are now second-guessing their support.
Action 2 News repeatedly tried getting a hold of those current council members but no one returned our calls.
Local law enforcement wants Green Bay to reconsider the ordinance, saying monitoring sex offenders is part of their rehabilitation.
"If they can't place them into a job where they can be self-sustaining, that just means more burden on the taxpayers because we have to pay for them," Captain Dave Konrath of the Brown County Sheriff's Department said.
Wednesday night, a panel of city leaders rejected a plan to limit where offenders can live.
The Department of Corrections says a residency ordinance makes it more difficult to keep track of offenders and therefore monitor their behavior.
Several local communities already restrict where sex offenders can live. Green Bay raised the bar two years ago by saying sex offenders cannot live within 2,000 feet of places kids hang out.
But authorities say the city is not any safer.
Jerry Wiezbiskie was one of two alders who opposed the law in 2007. He said he believed people like Tom Smith from the Department of Corrections who told leaders in Manitowoc Wednesday what he told leaders in Green Bay.
"They come into law enforcement to register out of good faith and say, 'I'm a sex offender, I'm moving into your community, and this is where I'm going to be living.' They're told you can't live in our community because we have a residency restriction, do you know what happens? We no longer hear from those people again," Smith told the Manitowoc committee.
And he had statistics to back it up. In Brown County, the number of offenders who go "underground" -- don't tell the DOC where they live -- doubled in a year, from 14 in 2007 to 31 in 2008.
"Tells me it's not working very well, just like I predicted," Wiezbiskie said.
Some city leaders who originally voted for the ordinance are no longer on the council, but Wiezbiskie says some who are still on the council are now second-guessing their support.
Action 2 News repeatedly tried getting a hold of those current council members but no one returned our calls.
Local law enforcement wants Green Bay to reconsider the ordinance, saying monitoring sex offenders is part of their rehabilitation.
"If they can't place them into a job where they can be self-sustaining, that just means more burden on the taxpayers because we have to pay for them," Captain Dave Konrath of the Brown County Sheriff's Department said.
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