The subject of how much scrutiny sex offenders who have served
their time deserve is a thorny one with no easy answers.
Placing the data about registered sex offenders on the Internet
makes it easier for public officials to update and easier for
citizens to access.
The subject of how much scrutiny sex offenders who have served their time deserve is a thorny one with no easy answers.
Placing the data about registered sex offenders on the Internet makes it easier for public officials to update and easier for citizens to access. But it comes with a difficult question: What’s the right way to react to learning that such a person lives in your neighborhood?
As evidence, look at local reactions to the Megan’s Law Internet database, which makes information about serious and high-risk sex offenders much easier to access.
Those reactions were evident at a community information night hosted by the Gilroy Police Department which, to its credit, has taken the initiative in assisting residents in dealing with the information that’s available at the California Web site, www.meganslaw.ca.gov.
The site represents a logical and long-time-coming communication between police and the community. Access to information about registered sex offenders should be easy and available to the public. An ounce of prevention is worth a mountain of cure. Prior to the placement of California’s Megan’s Law on the World Wide Web, people had to visit a police station, fill out a form explaining why they wanted to view the information, and could not take notes. The state of affairs is now much improved, making it simple to find out that 114 registered sex offenders – 83 high-risk and two serious – live in town.
But there’s a serious flaw in the Megan’s Law database that makes it more difficult for people to make rational judgments about sex offenders: The database does not provide enough context about the crime or crimes the registrant committed. For example, it would be helpful to know when the crimes were committed, when the registrant was convicted, and if the registrant knew the victim. This data, along with a short, executive summary of the crime, would greatly aid the public in deciding how to react to the registrant’s presence.
A recent conviction for crimes on strangers might warrant more severe changes in schedules and routines than a statutory rape conviction for consensual relations with an underage girlfriend 20 years previous.
Hopefully, local law enforcement officials and the public will urge the state to add this information to the database so that the information provided under Megan’s Law is as useful as possible.
Meanwhile, the public assumes the burden to act responsibly with the information they do have now.
Panic and hysteria do nothing to improve safety, and in the bigger picture, do nothing to solve the problem of the high rate of recidivism among sex offenders.
Gilroyans should adopt the attitude of a woman, who attended the meeting about the Megan’s Law database held at Luigi Aprea School.
“I’m glad that I know about it, because you have more eyes looking at that one person,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. But, she added, “They’ve been there all the time and haven’t disturbed anybody.”
Be forewarned, use the information judiciously and, of course, pay attention to the daily whereabouts of your children.
Megan’s Law information
• Anyone with concerns about an individual or suspicious behavior may contact the Gilroy Police Department at 846-0350 or the SAFE Task Force at
808-4300.
• For more child sexual abuse prevention tips or to organize a Megan’s Law meeting in your neighborhood, contact Rachel Munoz at 846-0524
