OK: Sex offenders are a factor in homeless initiatives, city police say
Sex offenders pose a unique set of problems for those advocating for the homeless..
State law requires sex offenders in Lawton to register and check in with the police department every seven days, and that includes those who say they are homeless. Failure to check in can result in arrest, he said. He said some claim to be homeless, but simply don’t have a place to stay because of state statutes (registered sex offenders may not live within 2,000 feet of a facility/place with children).
There is one entity that is trying to help. Grandeur of Grace is working with veterans in the community, and that has included those who are sex offenders. Brooke Brown, executive director, said one of the services they provide is housing and for sex offenders, that typically means placement somewhere outside the city limits.
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“Pauley said Lawton Police Department is tracking 161 registered sex offenders (some of those are jailed) and 28 are homeless”
But how many were jailed at the time the cops gave the reporter that number? I’d like to know the answer to that.
That would help me determine the homeless rate for Registered Persons in Lawton. I mean, 17.4% is pretty high but if I weed out those incarcerated then that would make the homeless rate already higher.
From another story: A head count of the homeless population in Lawton last fall by the Southwest Oklahoma Continuum of Care placed the number at 350-plus people, “but the actual number is much higher than that,” said Bernita Taylor, founder and CEO of MIGHT Community Development and Resource Center.
It was estimated the population in Lawton is 90,245, so that means roughly 0.38% of the city’s population are homeless. Even if the actual number was three times the rate, a Registered Person is still far more likely to be homeless because of the state’s draconian laws. But using the numbers currently available to be in your report and the other numbers I posted here, Persons Forced to Register are 45 times more likely to be homeless than the average person.
Residency restrictions need to be abolished.