98% of persons required to register as sex offenders found to be compliant! (AGAIN?)
Wait… didn’t we post this story a few days ago? Multi-agency operation, silly name, ominous headline… but no, that was Las Vegas, Nevada and this is Bend, Oregon…
Whatever, it’s all the same old story anyhow… This time “‘Operation High Desert’: Federal marshals lead Bend-area sex offender sweep”. According to this article; “a coordinated sweep by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bend Police Department, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and the Deschutes County Probation and Parole Office sent a strong message to sex offenders in Deschutes County: Comply with all sex offender laws and registration requirements.”
This time, the 3-day, 6-agency “operation” did compliance checks on 394 persons required to register as sex offenders and made eleven (11) arrests. Yes, only eleven. So 2.7% of the suspects targeted in the investigation were arrested, while 97.3% were not. And it’s not like eleven missing children were found or eleven sex trafficking cases solved. it’s eleven technical registration violations. Certainly if these had been new sex crimes the article would have mentioned that, but it didn’t. Show me any other “operation” involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies over a three-day period that only resulted in 2.7% arrested and I’d call it a huge waste of time and money.
The only “strong message” these stories send is that the overwhelming majority of persons required to register are consistently compliant and the public money would be better served with law enforcement investigating real crimes.
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It’s just sad how much money is spent on these operations. It’s even sadder that if you told the public how much was spent they would agree it was justified. It’s coming out of the tax payer dollars and they have no clue.
Here’s another story today out of wyoming:
https://www.sweetwaternow.com/one-arrested-after-officials-complete-registered-sex-offender-compliance-checks/
ONE (1) person arrested out of more than one hundred! WOW!
Even the one arrestee did not re-offend.
Kudos to WY registrants for remaining law-abiding.
Their time would be better spent in Portland arresting the vandals that are destroying the city. The Portland emergency response team resigned in its entirety. So here is law enforcement arresting people who are doing no harm to anyone or any business. It’s no wonder that law enforcement is being questioned. Have they totally lost their mind? It’s no wonder that the entire nation is disgusted with government and many of its officials. Even some in law enforcement have had it with politicians.
Let me see if I have this right. It takes a coordinated effort with 6 different agencies to contact 394 registrants, whose addresses are already known because of the registry, to make 11 arrests for technical violations of convoluted and arcane registration requirements? They probably got into interagency squabbles over who got to handcuff the perps.
Is there any way that a FOIA request could uncover the total cost of this operation? There must have been at least a couple dozen officers who could have been employed trying to actually prevent real crime.
These sweeps are simply PR stunts which generate hyperbolic press reports, increase the reported crime rate, create greater fear prompting demands for more draconian measures and larger police budgets, which gives police more time for such sweeps which…..Around and around it goes.
Veritas.
When they made a sweep like that in this county , the 6 officers and investigators that came by ask if they could come in . I said ok so they spent about an hour here looking through stuff and asking questions . I told them in no uncertain terms that I was very upset to see such a waist of my tax money and that I would file a complaint , which I did . They didn’t disagree with my comment. . That was about 2 yrs ago. Never heard back. That was a week long sweep that came up with 6 technical violations.
David
Were you on probation at the time of the sweep? Otherwise they had no legal grounds to enter your dweling. The officer who comes by once a year here just asks If I have any problems, concerns or any questions and tells me to remember to register. Then I do not see him again for another year.
He is nice but at the last second tries to scare me by saying ” They are really cracking down so watch your ass”.
CherokeeJack
No I was not on probation, this was a special sweep done in addition to the yearly visit done by the one or two officers that come by for verification checks. I know I didn’t have to let them in but didn’t see any reason not to as long as they were polite . Thought about offering them a coke or a beer as I would other visitors, but they probably would take it wrong. So I didn’t.
David, you need to see this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Many people get caught up on crimes just because they talk or let police into their homes.
DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS!
LPH
I realize you are 100% correct , even though I had there every move on camera with a notification to that effect at the front door. Fortunately things worked out alright.
Unless they have a signed search warrant, Never allow police into your dwelling no matter what. That’s the best policy ever. They can turn anything around on you in a heart beat. Anything the see or find in your house can be used against you once you give them permission to enter your dwelling and for the most part the same thing goes for you yard. Hypothetically speaking, Let’s say you forgot to register a motorcycle, boat, jet skis etc that belongs to a friend or family member and its inside your shed/garage on you property. They find it and can arrest you for failure to register (the vehicle on your registry). Innocently, it just slipped your mind because the motorcycle etc doesn’t belong to you. There is all kinds of scenarios that can happen. I never allow police into my house. Their job is to find anything and everything they can to arrest someone. Especially during these compliance checks. I wouldn’t allow them in my house without a search warrant and I definitely wouldn’t allow them to snoop through my belongings without a search warrant. You’re just setting yourself up for failure. Unless you know for a fact that all your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed but even then it’s your right to refuse them entry without a search warrant.
Tim
Maybe not the same but, I got a shed put in the back yard when I use to own a house. When it was done, had to have the county come out and sign off on the work and approve the permitting. The shed was fine but they found all kinds of other stuff in the back yard they said was out of code or against code and gave me 10 days to have it corrected or I would get a fine.
I fixed everything, then after they left, put it right back the way it was LOL
Lol Niiiicce!!
It is supposedly NOT punishment, not punitive, and not a burden? How many other ex-offenders have cops randomly show up at their doors to terrorize them and their families without a warrant and face arrests? And these are people who have finished their sentences, some decades ago.
They are so desperate to get us all back in the system and ruin our chances of any hope of getting off the registry, that they will do whatever it takes. Lie, set us up, bare false witness, go in for a low blow. “He you didn’t mow your law in violation of city ordinance, off you go pal”.
I have said this numerous times but bares repeating. The time, manpower, money, resources etc they expend on comliance of registered citzens, could probably solve 55% of the unsolved crimes in the U.S. The programs they have to catch us in a non crime, crime (For anyone else) compares to military operations to spy on the Taliban.
“Hey Billy do you want to grow up to be a doctor and cure cancer?”. “No Dad, I want to be on the sex offender task force and harass people and their families just for the fun of it”.
The Local Deputies went to my Landlords house, he said they ask him, “How can you let a Sex offender live in your property?” Who here is the Crazy and Sick?
Mark
WOW, just wow. That is harassment. Unless you are under mandated notifications, not sure how they can get away with that. Having said that, things happening similar to that is what caused me to move out of Seminole county. I have County, city and even state (FDLE agents) doing compliance checks on me at least once a week. And that was in addition to the probation officer coming by usually when I was at work.
As soon as I got off probation I moved. Just a shame we are harassed into moving.
The sex offender registration scheme is simply a feel-good public relations effort and neither genuine law enforcement nor an efficient use of precious public resources.
Law enforcement is a public bureaucratic entity and like all bureaucratic entities, size determines how many management positions there are. A person I know well retired from the county sheriff’s department many years ago now. They had a sheriff, two lieutenants, and the rest were deputies. They probably employed 200 people tops and were 100% financed by the county.
The county is now 50% more populated but the sheriff’s department is 300% larger. They have boats, military equipment, 1 sheriff, 1 chief deputy, 4 commanders, 3 colonels, 2 majors, 2 captains, and so many LT’s they don’t even list them. They have individual units for a SWAT, Gang, Dive, K9, Cold Case, Patrol, Investigations, warrants, narcotics, traffic, domestic, communications, and evidence. And to top it all off, just read in the paper this morning that all those people and departments, they only solve 1 out of 3 crimes.
These operations do nothing more than sustain the bureaucracy so all this can exist and at the end of the day, these people can retire on 80% pay after 20-30 years of service.
Wow, one third of crimes solved! With all those employees spending their time not solving crime, who is left to prevent crime? All the incentives for police and prosecutors are backwards. Budgets are increased when the crime rate goes up.
Veritas.