Naples News reporter Greg Stanley reported from the County Commission meeting today, at which they discussed increasing the buffer zone for sex offenders.
Here are some of his tweets:
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Sheriff: Buffers only affect a quarter of county’s 250 registered offenders
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Sheriff: Biggest concern is untracked offenders. Large buffer zones from schools can increase amount of offenders who aren’t registered
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Sheriff’s office: little need to change increase buffer zone for sex offenders.
Apparently the Sheriff is NOT in favor of increasing the buffer zones. If you are not either, you should contact your commissioner.
Buffer zones should apply to every citizen, registered or not, as truth be told anyone who does not have a child in the school or reason to do business at the school has no reason to be there. Alternatively, it should apply to everyone, because registered citizens are only people that have been identified, the fact is 95% of offenders are 1st time offenders and would not be on the registry. Also considering 93% of offenders are known to their victim and the majority of the offenses happen at home, so this is just one more law which is ineffective and creates more work for an overburdened law enforcement agency and create additional false sense of security for parents. Parents need to be diligent in who their children spend time with as well as having the conversation about what appropriate behavior is with anyone touching them, be it a stranger or someone they know and trust, be it adult or child and encourage them to tell. No one will hurt their families if they tell nor will anyone be angry with them. It’s the brave thing for them to do.