OK: Some law enforcement worry new, stricter law will discourage sex offenders from registering
A new law that further tightens restrictions on where sex offenders can live has some law enforcement agencies concerned it will discourage people from registering as offenders.
The law, which went into effect on Nov. 1, added home daycares to the list of locations sex offenders cannot live near. Prior to that, state law already prohibited offenders from living near child-friendly areas, ordering them to live 2,000 feet from public and private schools, churches, playgrounds, parks or daycare centers. The law did not apply to home daycares, of which Oklahoma has more than 1,500.
Some law enforcement and critics say the restrictive laws are counterproductive.
Tulsa Police Department Sgt. John Adams is head of the child exploitation and sex offender unit. He said although the law was intended to make communities safer, it has essentially done the opposite.
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An offender can not live near a church????
Restrictions on “living near a church” reminds me of a story about the church I now attend on Merritt Island, Florida. It is located in what used to be a XXX theater. Many years ago when they went looking for a building they found this theater for sale. A real estate agent told them that this was not the kind of neighborhood that would be good for a church. Their response…”This is the kind of neighborhood that needs a church”. Today that church has not only renovated and used that building for God’s service, but has purchased two additional buildings next door, has established an accredited university, and established two more venues within Brevard County. Hundreds have come to Christ through this church’s ministry and their youth programs have grown up missionaries and pastors. Letting the ‘down trodden’ live in the vicinity of a church has a positive effect on the whole community. Those who make laws contrary to such arrangements are doing neighborhoods a disservice. What are they thinking…or are they thinking at all? Some of our legislators are so ‘eaten up’ with paranoia based on unfounded fears.
So according to this Sgt, there will be a rash of new sex offenses committed in Tulsa by people previously convicted for a sex offense but refuse to register due to the new residency restriction.
Yeah, he’s speaking against the new law, but I question his motivation, which I suspect is just whining about how much harder his job becomes. No LE will ever publicly call the registry the most useless government idea of all time (though a few will in private).
I emailed the author of this article suggesting she follow up in six months or so to see if that actually happens; she agreed. Hoping I can get her to call out this clown with questions about the registry that never get asked.
Maybe they should have compared sex offenders to hotel bedsheet stains that you can see with a blacklight; you know it’s there, but do you really want to see it? The people that actively search the registry have a screw loose as well. Everyone needs a job and a reason to feel like they contribute to society. Sex hysteria and the “I’m gonna make a difference” attitude by lawmakers will never end. They have to have a reason to live, and they want to kill people’s lives and dreams. That is what makes em happy.
I read the full article. To be compared to rattlesnakes in a darkened room is appalling!
‘Opposite effect’ is the result of many of these ‘do-gooder’ laws. They are what you get when so-called professionals make rules without any contact with facts. “Emotion” is not a positive factor in the character of a leader.