Pinellas County received a $750,000 grant to help offenders adjust to life outside prison.
“A maximum of 120 people at a time can use the program services during the 36-month pilot. Services provided by the Department of Corrections include training classes in life skills, resume writing, housing and job placement, drug testing and acquiring social services or medical care.”
Sex Offenders and career criminals are excluded from the program.
If sexual offenses are such a threat to public safety, wouldn’t it be in the County’s best interest to include sex offenders in a program that is claimed to have a significant reduction in recidivism?
To confront this ignorance and bigotry a clear and trusted and credible profile of the RSO population needs to be accessible and distributed to policy makers. With low recidivism, most violations being conducted by family and acquaintances and long prison sentences, the RSO population has paid a harsh price for their conduct.
This policy is no different than large residency exclusion zones.where THERE IS NO EVIDENCE that such policies reduce crime by even 1.0%. In Dallas recently, when the policy chief and ordinance sponsor were questioned as to facts to back up this expanded restriction they could not come up with one once of proof. The over-reach of the criminal justice system is frightening. This is not the America I grew up in. “Tough on crime” has proven to be a nightmare not a solution.