The Megan's Law database. Does a sex offender lives near you?

You normally have to go to a police station to get Megan's Law information on sex offenders in your neighborhood. Some police forces have online information with general locations of the offenders in the city. The city of San jose has taken things one step further. in order to protect the community, they not only publish the name and address of the offender, but his charges and parole status.

Kudos to the City of San Jose for protecting its community. The San Jose Database can be access here for those that are curious:

www.sjpd.org...

[edit on 24-8-2004 by FredT]

I think it's disgusting we don't have anything like this in this country (UK).
It would help so much in stopping some of the horrible crimes we have, to hell with the 'rights' of these people, they lost some of them when they committed the offence.
They should be pleased they are allowed to walk the streets at all IMO.

Originally posted by AgentSmith
I think it's disgusting we don't have anything like this in this country (UK).
It would help so much in stopping some of the horrible crimes we have, to hell with the 'rights' of these people, they lost some of them when they committed the offence.
They should be pleased they are allowed to walk the streets at all IMO.

Its really quite a shock when you realize that a convicted child molester lives down the street from you. The law was named after a girl who was raped and killed by a paroled sexual predator. The stae of California is actually having a problem with the ones they parole. Citizens are organizing protest when the state tried to place them in their communty and driving them out.

Catch 22 here.

The danger with publicizing the names it that vigelanti groups will hunt 'em down to get revenge.
If you don't offer info on them they can slip back into society ready to re-offend.
Tough one to call this...

Compromize: Keep the name on a databse accessible by local authority. Allow people come and have their adress checked and find out if they live within a cirtain distance of an offender. This allows people to know if their neighborhood is "safe" (what stops sex offenders getiing on public transport?) , but still awards some sort of privacy to the offender.

[edit on 24/8/2004 by Corinthas]

It looks to me that what is needed is a list of the parole officers who let out criminals that commit more crimes while in parole. After all, if it wasn't for them, the criminals would still be in jail.

Oh, and I hope that there are no errors on this lists, one letter changed could change the life of many people.

[edit on 24/8/2004 by ArMaP]

Originally posted by ArMaP
It looks to me that what is needed is a list of the parole officers who let out criminals that commit more crimes while in parole. After all, if it wasn't for them, the criminals would still be in jail.[edit on 24/8/2004 by ArMaP]

Its not the parole officers, but the do gooder parole boards that decide if they have rehabed to the point that they are no threat to society. In regards to errors, no system is perfect, but they are placed in the database based on conviction and when they register with the local police office.

Thanks for your corrections.

Here is a comprehensive list of sex offender databases by jurisdiction....

www.sexoffender.com...

Originally posted by loam
Here is a comprehensive list of sex offender databases by jurisdiction....

www.sexoffender.com...

Excellent I did not know you could find all the states in one outlet.

I looked at a few pictures of these guys (I am right down the freeway from ya FredT) and all these guys seem to have odd shaped heads (seriously)

To much forehead , to little , eyes close together . It may just be the fact that I already know they are offenders , but something strikes me creepy about each one .

Probably just my imagination , I wouldn't know what a sex offender looked like if one was walking down my street (unless someone had the good idea to post their picture for me on the internet)

I think this is a good idea .

They are a scary looking lot. Something about mug shots that just bring out the worst in people. Really. Mother Theresa would look like a serial killer in a mug shot. maybe the police pose them that way for the psychology effect? Or maybe its the shock of being arrested that gives then all the same basic look????

Originally posted by Corinthas
Compromize: Keep the name on a databse accessible by local authority. Allow people come and have their adress checked and find out if they live within a cirtain distance of an offender. This allows people to know if their neighborhood is "safe" (what stops sex offenders getiing on public transport?) , but still awards some sort of privacy to the offender.

Actually most police web sites will give a general location of where the offenders are. They usually do not give an address like the San jose site. However, alot are converting over.....

It doesn't seem that the NY site allows you to search without providing them with information about yourself first. I don't like that though... NY Sex Offenders

I live in a small rural community. Everyone knows everyone in this town, or at least they think they do. Ran a home daycare a while back and someone told me about the site.

To my horror, there was a guy in his 30's, living 5 houses down that was a sex offender. I had been clueless until I found that site.

I ran that search today, just for kicks. We have a guy in in his 40's living in an apartment house that is a sex offender, right behind another home daycare. I gave the daycare "mom" a call, she had no idea that this guy had a record for molesting children.

If you are a sex offender (IMO), you do have a certain right to privacy. But we, as a community with children, have a right to know who you are, what you've done, and where you live. We have a right to protect our children.