HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Maryland is joining a sex-offender registry program that law enforcement officials say will make it more efficient to share records.
The Herald-Mail reported Sunday that Maryland became the 17th state to join OffenderWatch last week. A statewide contract will allow every sheriff’s office, participating police departments and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to use the technology.
Maryland residents will also be able to register online to receive alerts and updates at no cost when offenders register within a specific radius of their home.
When people are making money off the Registries it doesn’t matter at all that the Registries are worthless and counterproductive. The only thing that matters to them is the money and growing government and the money bigger. They are immoral.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this basically make getting off M.L. worthless. The states are going to use this instead of M.L. to insure the names of offenders are known no matter what.
Q: When was the last time an “alert” sent out prevented or saved anyone?
A: NEVER.
Q: When was the last time you ever heard a success story from “CODE ADAM” sent out over a department store’s PA system?
A: NEVER.
The registry does not minimize risk. What Megan’s law attempts to prevent is not possible. Tell the cops this to their faces whenever they do a compliance check!
You literally can not escape. You will be watched, hounded, shamed, and pushed out of society for the rest of your life.
I complained about Offenderwatch once to one of the Georgia counties that use it. The GBI registry listed around 90 registrants in the whole county. The federal one listed about the same, a little higher if I remember right. Offenderwatch listed almost 200 just in the county seat.
Point being Offenderwatch probably charges by number of registrants. Guarantee they’ll list 2 or 3 times as many registrants as whatever system it replaces.
@Dustin,
I agree.
I wonder with these private Tech groups, just how much profit they generate, and how much they spend on Lobbying to keep Registries in place for their own bottom line. I see it as no different than the private prison industry. I see it as no different than the Commissary run by 3rd parties at prisons. I see it as no different than a company like SECURUS who posts massive profits off of “inmate” telephone calls and other services.
It’s disgusting. But, I fear it is also endemic of the current state of local government trying to come into SORNA compliance and at the same time do so with the Maximum Amount Of Shame hoisted upon the registrant all under the guise of “Public Protection”. It is without a doubt a shame.
I find that we use a law as a blanket to cover everyone in the sex offender registry should be on a case-by-case basis not just a blanket policy to cover everyone for everyone’s crime is not the same but we in this country all know that under the guise of protecting our children many companies are making a fortune