It’s one of the busiest areas in Albuquerque, surrounded by shopping, a skate park, and several schools and parks. So why is a registered sex offender living out of his car in the Cottonwood Mall parking lot? One might assume he must be breaking the rules but he hasn’t done anything wrong.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Jeffrey Scott Hunter oversees the department’s sex offender tracking unit. He says people are often surprised and angry to learn that once an offender is finished with probation or parole, there are no restrictions about where that person can register to live.
Despite criticism and concern, Maestas argues the law is sound and does its job. “The sex offender registry is solely for the purpose of monitoring and tracking… nothing more nothing less,” said Maestas. He says there is no talk at the Roundhouse about further amending the sex offender registration laws.
BCSO says homeless offenders don’t give them any more trouble than anyone else who’s supposed to register. They just want to make sure everyone who is supposed to register does. “It’s when they don’t comply that our job is difficult,” said Hunter.
BCSO says the number of offenders in the county continues to steadily grow and as of now, six detectives are responsible for keeping tabs on the county’s 1,300 offenders.
This whole registry ‘thing’ is a man-made monstrosity that serves no purpose and takes attention away from real criminals. The criminal community must love it. There are at least six detectives who are not available to go after real criminals. Like I’ve heard said…common sense is not very common.
My roommate and I are displaced residents from the Florida Keys. Living in New Mexico for the last three years has been the greatest move we have ever made. Neither of us has any intention of breaking the law and appreciates the respectable approach New Mexico affords those of us forced to be on the registry. New Mexico is not hysterical about those of us on the registry. I feel blessed to live in harmony with my New Mexico neighbors. My neighbors need not concern themselves as we pose no threat to anyone.
Facts demonstrate registrants living near a school do not automatically create a threat or danger to children. The hysterical overexaggerated concerns create more of a problem than exists. I hope and pray that New Mexico does not fall victim to the sex offender hysteria and self-serving politicians out to gain recognition creating the perception of a problem that does not exist.
Society should be more concerned about why any individual must live in his car in a parking lot. Society has marginalized registrants denying registrants the ability to provide a decent living situation for themselves. The draconian oppression of registrants has greatly contributed to the cause of homelessness leading to living in a parking lot. The is no wonder WHY the address of a sex offender must live in his car in a parking lot. At least the sex offender has a car in which to live instead of a tent like so many other registrants!
The problem is a predictable repercussion of the sex offender registry. The sex offender MUST under threat of reincarceration register somewhere. Given the choice of incarceration or living in a car in a parking lot, that car would certainly be my choice. What are these people thinking?
Gene, you are correct that New Mexico is one of the more enlightened states regarding registration. The single most important provision in the law is the “preemption clause” or the “savings clause.” This prohibits counties and cities from adding any requirements beyond those specified in state law. That is why there is not the tangle of local ordinances and residency restrictions we see in Florida.
Rep. Moe Maestas not withstanding, there are many politicians who, for political gain, would like to become more like other states. Attorney General Hector Balderas opined in a post-Epstein press release that “New Mexico continues to lag behind other states”. Correct. To my knowledge, the state has had to fight only one lawsuit–which it lost. Clearly that puts the state behind the likes of Illinois and Florida in burdening taxpayers with endless litigation providing no public safety benefit.
I hope that every registrant in the state will monitor the 60-day legislative session beginning in January. To the best of my ability, I support the local NARSOL affilliate (https://libjusco.net) that is active in legislative matters. I fear that this news report is only an opening shot in the legislative battle to implement residency restrictions or to allow local ordinances. It is an inexpensive and scenic train ride from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, and a pleasant walk to the capital building. I hope more people will make the trip when necessary.
I live in Albuquerque and have written to both reporters as well as the News Desk:
You almost got the story right. The reason why sex offenders are having to live in a Home Depot parking lot is because of the Sex Offender Registry – a public notification tool that the public mistakenly interprets as a listing of “dangerous predatory pedophiles” who are waiting to pounce on children and sexually molest them at any moment (such monsters are in fact, put in prison for life). As a result, no one will give them a job or accept them as a renter so they are forced to roam the streets and sleep in Home Depot parking lots. Indeed yes, this should raise our eyebrows. If we are going to continue to publicly shame people for the rest of their lives; people who have served their time and completed all probationary requirements, we shouldn’t be surprised when we see them homeless on the street. Right now there are 40 and that number will keep going up and up. Scarlet Lettering people doesn’t work. Such policies prevent reintegration, increase the chance of recidivism and makes our community LESS safe. Children are abused by someone they know not by a stranger sleeping at a Home Depot. Please do the responsible thing and help our community better understand this important issue.
I guess the point of the story is to say that registrants shouldn’t be allowed to live in residential areas, nor should they be allowed to be homeless. From that, I presume they figure that registrants should either leave the state or remain in prison. What other options are there?
This reporter fits the perfect definition of being willfully ignorant. They show such little understanding of sexual offending, the registry, and the people on it that she needed to get an education by those interviewed. Even then, she got basic facts of the story wrong (possibly intentionally to stoke fear) and had to issue a correction. Even FAC’s reprint still has the old, outdated information. The individual did not camp out in his car at the mall as originally reported, but at a Home Depot parking lot. I give the man props for picking a business with the least potential to incite public hysteria, but that apparently wasn’t controversial enough for this reporter.
I don’t know if the word irony is sufficient to describe the situation in Albuquerque. Like many cities, it has been struggling with how to deal with a growing homeless population. Barely a month ago, the city authorized encampments, called “Safe Outdoor Spaces” for the homeless, complete with sanitary facilities, social services and spaces for tents and automobiles.
Because of public concerns, these will be allowed in non-residential areas, and are fenced and locked at night. Potential residents must fill out an application and there is a curfew and other behavioral requirements, e.g. no drugs or alcohol. Applicants including those with a felony record will be screened on an individual basis, and the encampments are open to everyone except (wait for it)….. sex offenders.
City counselor Pat Davis likes grandstanding and apparently can’t see the logical disconnect, nor has he done his homework regarding registered persons. If these people were allowed to reside at the encampments the issue presented in this news report would be moot.
I intend to follow up on this article with the authors, with counselor Davis and the local NARSOL affilliate. This could present an opening to both educate public officials and to blunt any legislation driven soley by moral panic. Links to a news report and to the city’s guiding document for these encampments is below.
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/albuquerque-approves-second-safe-outdoor-space/
https://www.cabq.gov/family/documents/safe-outdoor-space-guiding-document-instruction-manual-july-2022-pdf.pdf
The torches & pitchforks mob is so short-sightedly stupid that they cannot see beyond the ends of their noses. Where an registrant resides would have no effect on them getting driving to a nearby school or playground, if that is what they want to do. In another words, it would have absolutely no effect on whether a Registrant reoffends or not.