WI: Credit Where It’s Due – A DOC Officer Tells the Truth About Residency Restrictions
When government officials are willing to speak honestly about difficult issues, they deserve recognition.
At a recent Wisconsin county meeting considering a new sex offender residency restriction ordinance, a representative from the Department of Corrections acknowledged a reality that researchers, practitioners, and advocates have known for years: residency restrictions are ineffective. We applaud the officer for being willing to tell the truth.
Too often, discussions about registry laws and residency restrictions are driven by fear, politics, and assumptions rather than evidence. It takes courage for someone working within the system to acknowledge that simply pushing people farther away from certain locations does not necessarily make communities safer.
Ironically, the ordinance that was ultimately approved established a 250-foot buffer zone. Here in Florida, state law imposes a 1,000-foot residency restriction, and many local governments have expanded that distance to 2,500 feet, or more!
Florida has become a prime example of the unintended consequences of these policies. As exclusion zones expand, lawful housing disappears. As lawful housing disappears, homelessness increases. And as homelessness increases, the very goals of accountability and supervision become harder to achieve.
That’s why we appreciate public officials who are willing to acknowledge reality, even when doing so may not be politically convenient.
The Wisconsin ordinance may have passed, but one of the most important moments from the discussion was hearing a corrections professional recognize what the evidence has been saying all along: public safety is not measured by the size of a circle drawn on a map.
We need more policymakers, law enforcement officials, and corrections professionals who are willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads—and speak honestly about what works and what doesn’t.
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One would think that since laws are supposed to be created using evidence based reasoning, since that’s how the law-enforcing courts operate, that we would have moved past many of these nonsensical and wasteful positions based entirely on feels.
It just goes to show, that common sense, isn’t something politicians typically have. They could have a sign flashing in their face telling them no, and they would still say yes!