June 5, 2013
Contact: Gail Colletta
561.305.4959
Lake Monroe, FL— June 13, 2013.
Coming Soon to Your Neighborhood: More Homeless Sex Offenders
The United States is home to about three quarter of a Million Sex Offenders, with just under 60,000 registered in Florida. According to a 2012 study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Florida saw a 74% increase in the number of sex offenders in the past five years.
What has also increased exponentially in the last five years is the number of municipalities which have passed tough residency restrictions against those classified as “sex offenders”. With thousands being added to the list annually and Florida requiring lifetime registration, the number of registrants will steadily climb while the available housing options will steadily decrease, leaving a growing number of registrants with nowhere to live.
In a 2009 study which appears on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Website (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/getdoc/bce869a7-6027-4166-bc80-1766e78a1765/Datz-Amy-Research-paper-pdf.aspx), it was reported that as much as fifty percent of the State is off limits to sex offenders. More populated areas had less than 10% available, with some cities zoning out registrants entirely. Wherever there is an available pocket for registrants to cluster, the growing trend has been to install a pocket park to close off the area.
Compounded by the fact that few landlords want their address published online or are unwilling to rent to former sex offenders and public registration rendering employment unlikely, more sex offenders are forced into a life of homelessness or are driven underground.
So why should we care? As Central Florida’s news station WFTV reported yesterday, “More than 230 convicted sex offenders in central Florida are almost untraceable.” Without an address, it is virtually impossible to check up on them. Those numbers are even worse in South Florida, which has twice as many homeless registrants. Also, homelessness leads to instability and recidivism (http://lawenforcementtoday.com/2013/05/30/not-in-my-backyard-do-stricter-sex-offender-laws-really-protect-citizens/).
All the while, study after study has shown that residency restrictions are ineffective and actually do more harm than good.
So, unless we do care about public safety and do something to reverse these counterproductive residency restrictions, more homeless sex offenders will be coming to our neighborhoods.
Florida Action Committee (FAC), founded in 2006, is a state-wide consortium of concerned citizens and professionals whose purpose is to promote the prevention of sexual abuse while preserving the safety and dignity of all citizens through carefully structured laws targeting the truly violent, forced, and/or dangerous predatory acts of sex. FAC believes that many aspects of the current approach to sex offenders seriously undermine justice and actually increase the threat of sexual assault against others, particularly children. FAC opposes a publicized registry of sex offenders and seeks to bring an end to the humiliation of people who have already paid for their crimes. FAC asserts that only by supporting justice for all people—offenders and victims alike can a truly safe society be built and secured for all Americans.
Recent Comments