State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) has introduced a bill that would require convicted sex offenders to register with police in the locales where they work to plug a hole in the state’s registry system. The measure is viewed as a common-sense approach by Highland Park Police Chief Paul Shafer and others in law enforcement, and seen as overly punitive and burdensome by some advocates looking out for offenders’ rights. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Registration
TX: For $1.4 million, Dallas sex offender registration doesn’t buy much
If the goal is more stigma and shame, the operation succeeds spectacularly. For starters, the entrance is hidden around back of Dallas police headquarters, behind a rusting door, next to a small sign: “Sex Offender Registration Entrance Only.” Inside, the atmosphere only gets worse. The dreary waiting room is almost always filled to capacity with people sitting glumly, waiting for hours to meet the strict reporting requirements of being a registered sex offender. Full Article
Read Morethe mystery of the missing sex offenders
A fear-mongering news report from Omaha’s KETV talks about sex offenders who go missing. According to Nebraska’s sex offender registry, there are more than 900 convicted offenders living in Douglas County alone. Chris White, a deputy U.S. marshal with the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force, said about 90 of those convicted offenders are hiding. “There are more people absconding every day. That number compiles [sic] unless we get after it,” White said. A multi-agency task force tracks down the missing sex offenders. “I assume that they’re reoffending, that they’re dropping off…
Read More