Most ordinances place the burden of measuring distance on the registrant.
Most registrants don’t have access to GIS tools, a civil engineering degree or property appraiser maps to identify boundaries and definitively identify the buffer limits. “As the crow flies” is also difficult because you can’t take a measuring tape and climb over buildings and across rivers – not that they make 2500 foot tape measures.
What’s also absurd, is this burden would put the onus on the offender to know where all the swing sets are. Can you imagine a “registered sex offender” walking around a neighborhood peeking in back-yards to see if there’s a swing set?!?
If the police and probation can’t get it right with their training and resources, how can they expect someone who is broke, has no access to the internet and shouldn’t be looking for playgrounds to begin with, to do that job? It’s f-ing absurd!
We reached out to this guys attorney and invited him to join our call tomorrow. Hopefully he will so we can show him and his clients some support!