They’ve got a point! Debate over a Colorado sex offender residency restriction raises valid questions.
Residents of Thornton, Colorado raised some valid points about a proposed residency restriction covering school bus stops.
One resident pointed out (as is the case with most sex offender residency restrictions) there’s no delineation to show what’s “within 1,000 feet,” or how anyone would know where a “designated” school bus stop is. “If the city does not publish an accurate school bus map, convicted child sex offenders can’t comply with boundaries they cannot find,” he said.
This is a problem most of us experience. when looking for housing. There’s no red line on the roads or on properties that show where 1,000 feet begins. It’s nearly impossible to know where the “do not cross” boundary ends. Also, since school bus stops are usually not marked with a sign, how would someone know where they are located?
On the flip side, the man pointed out that if they do create a map and distribute it to all offenders, “you’re creating a live, citywide inventory of morning gathering spots for unsupervised children – available to everyone, including the predators you’re trying to protect them from”. In other words, if anyone is out there actively targeting children, the city is helping them out greatly by providing them a map of where to find them.
It really is absurd once you think about it. It is very, very, very, rare for a kid to be abducted from a school bus stop or molested at one. In reality, it just doesn’t happen. Conversely there are thousands of people who are homeless because they can’t find a place to live that’s not within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop or who are arrested each year for living too close to one. Another reality is that anyone intent on kidnapping a kid from a bus stop isn’t going to be deterred by a residency restriction. They can be totally compliant with the restriction and drive 1,001 feet to do it. So does it make sense to highlight the spots where they can accomplish it?
Residency restrictions don’t work. Period. We know it and study after study proves they don’t work.
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I drove a school bus for 30 years. I never had a problem with someone attempting to steal a child. My stops weren’t the same every day, month, or year. And someone had to meet the child before I let them off the bus. So, this is one law I do not agree with.
I wonder if there is anyway to fight the residency restriction zone. I mean it seems to be against freedom ove movement. There’s been several places I wanted to purchase but I couldn’t due to a daycare being 978ft away. Another place there was a bus stop 788 ft away. Another one there was a park 988 ft away. I mean come on. If anyone wanted to abduct or intice a child the restriction is not going to stop them. They’re going to know where parks, daycares, etc etc are located and drive there. I could see someone like John Wayne Gacy having a restriction but I can’t see someone like Gacy being on the streets again. That’s how we are treated on the registry. We build resentments against society and society builds resentments against us. The registry is proof of the resentments.
Tim – contact [email protected] to share your experience finding housing – we need need people who can give declarations for the Clements case.
The odds are that they will pass it anyway despite the obvious inanity. (If it saves one kid!)
It’s all just political posturing.
On top of all that, school bus stops change every year depending on where most kids live. I’ve seen them at the corner next to my house, the corner behind our house and down the street both ways. How can you create laws around a moving target? Ridiculous.