|
TITLE
RESOLUTION URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO REQUIRE SEXUAL PREDATORS AND SEXUAL OFFENDERS TO WEAR ELECTRONIC MONITORING DEVICES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THEIR NATURAL LIVES
BODY
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners is concerned about convicted sexual predators and sexual offenders who are released from custody and repeat the unlawful acts for which they had originally been convicted; and
WHEREAS, the Board finds that the recidivism rate for released sexual predators and sexual offenders is high, especially for those who commit crimes against children; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has a compelling interest in protecting children from predatory sexual activity; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has already taken efforts to address this issue by prohibiting sexual predators and sexual offenders from establishing temporary or permanent residence in certain areas where children are known to regularly congregate, by prohibiting the renting or leasing of certain property to sexual predators or sexual offenders if such property is located where children are known to regularly congregate, and by restricting sexual offenders’ and sexual predators’ access to parks and child care facilities; and
WHEREAS, Florida law also requires sexual predators and sexual offenders to comply with a number of statutory requirements, including the requirement that he or she provide the address of legal residence and address of any temporary residence to the local sheriff’s department within 48 hours of sentencing or of establishing a residence; and
WHEREAS, sexual offenders and predators are also required by Florida law to register at a state driver’s license office within 48 hours of the initial registration at the local sheriff’s department, and must report any change of permanent or temporary residence within the state to the driver’s license office within 48 hours; and
WHEREAS, despite these requirements, local law enforcement has still encountered difficulties in locating many sexual predators and sexual offenders; and
WHEREAS, a 2012 report by the Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis & Governmental Accountability found that 40 percent of sheriff’s offices surveyed reported that they had difficulty locating sexual predators and sexual offenders who were listed at transient residences; and
WHEREAS, it is believed that some sexual predators and sexual offenders list their addresses as “transient” for the express purpose of avoiding law enforcement oversight; and
WHEREAS, requiring sexual predators and sexual offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices would eliminate many of these problems by providing law enforcement with the capability of determining the a sexual predator or sexual offender’s precise location; and
WHEREAS, an electronic monitoring system for sexual predators and sexual offenders would also enable law enforcement to be immediately informed if a sexual predator or sexual offender was near a park, child care facility, school, or other location where children regularly congregate; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of this technology can only help law enforcement marshal their resources and more effectively protect children from predatory sexual activity; and
WHEREAS, similar legislation has already been passed in California, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS, none of these state statutes have been struck down despite various legal challenges,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges the Florida Legislature to require sexual predators and sexual offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices for the remainder of their natural lives.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit certified copies of the resolution to the Governor, Attorney General, Senate President, House Speaker, and the Chair and Members of the Miami-Dade State Legislative Delegation.
Section 3. Directs the County’s state lobbyists to advocate for the issues identified in Section 1 above, and authorizes and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to include this item in the 2015 state legislative package when it is presented to the Board.
|
“It doesn’t matter if your crime was decades ago or how severe, the legislation they are pushing for would slap GPS monitors on all Predators and Offenders”
For those worried, this part is not quite true. The bill as filed can be found here:
http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2015/0134/BillText/Filed/HTML
and states that it will only apply to those crimes on/after Oct. 2015.
Ahh, the sweet sound of a boot stamping on a human face forever…….
Thanks for the correction. The post has been updated.
This is insane! All sex offenders? So everyone caught urinating behind a dumpster, teenagers caught sexting and grandmaws caught with a pic of their squeaky clean and adorable grandbaby should all be required to wear a slave monitor around their ankle….forever? One has to question the motives of Commissioner Diaz. They certainly aren’t doing what’s best for his constituents. This so bizarre, surely he knows such broad and unconstitutional legislation would be a waste of time and money? It would never pass legal scrutiny. This is like something our of a H.G. Wells novel.
I realize that Florida politicians do not know what “empirical research” means, otherwise we would not be living under a brand of Sharia law, but empirical research has shown time and time again that GPS monitoring is neither cost effective nor accurate. This “great idea” would drive the state to bankruptcy, not only from financing its implementation and maintenance, but from the lawsuits that would be filed by thousands of registered citizens.
I also challenge the assertion that California, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have passed legislation requiring ALL of their registered citizens to be GPS monitored. No state requires ALL its registered citizens to be GPS monitored. This is yet another case of an out-of-control hysterical political body trying to impose the most punitive “restrictions” against registered persons.
Additionally, one of the opening rationales states, “the Board finds that the recidivism rate for released sexual predators and sexual offenders is high, especially for those who commit crimes against children.” Once again, empirical research by the USDOJ, has shown this is not the case.
If it weren’t so tragic, I would find their statement, “40 percent of sheriff’s offices surveyed reported that they had difficulty locating sexual predators and sexual offenders who were listed at transient residences.” laughable. Duh! After their previous legislation has driven a segment of the population into homelessness and transience, they wonder why they have difficulty locating them. Oh, and by the way, the report they cited was cherry-picked, as usual, to suit their needs. Read the whole report here: http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/MonitorDocs/Reports/pdf/1212rpt.pdf
They fail to emphasize the major finding of the report, which was that although the number of registrants increased 65% from 2005-2012, the absconded rate (the registrants they SHOULD be worrying about) DROPPED from an already low 4.37% to a mere 1.2%. So, their logic is to punish the other 98.8% of registered citizens for the 1.2% who have allegedly absconded. They really makes NO SENSE at all.
I hope that this is something the ACLU is looking at!
What in the world does this person use for a brain. Can’t belief that an elected official could even suggest such a resolution. Did he ever read the Constitution ,or does he need a translation perhaps.
I wonder if any of these Commissioners have stock in 3M GPS Monitoring?
This does not make sense either. There are so many people in you include the sex offenders which would be very expensive. In Orange county they tried putting GPS devices on felons awaiting trial and many got them off and took off. What makes them think a predator wouldn’t do the same especially if he wants to hurt someone. I sure hope it doesn’t go through. They did try this once before I think but it didn’t go through..