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| Sex Offender City |
| By Sarah Etter, News Reporter |
| Published: 12/04/2006 |
Fast forward ten years and imagine a country where sex offenders live together in little cities. Pushed to the outskirts of their communities, they are monitored and forced to live in under-populated areas. Think it's impossible? Think again. In an effort to improve the safety of their communities, states and counties across the country are passing legislation that requires sex offenders to live no closer than 2,500 feet from schools, parks, and churches. Although this might seem like a viable solution to manage these offenders, some experts say pushing them to the outskirts of society will only increase recidivism and make it more difficult to offer treatment. In the small town of Algoma, Wisconsin, however, board members unanimously approved residency restriction laws, or RRLs, for sex offenders last week. According to town official Daniel Mingus, RRLs are rapidly becoming a choice for towns that want to improve safety but lack the state legislation to support their efforts. “I can almost guarantee you that ten years from now, you are going to see every state in America using RRLs,” he says. “Then you will finally see the federal government enforcing tighter restrictions. Many states are getting tougher and tougher when it comes to these restrictions because the recidivism rate is just so high for these individuals.” Mingus says the sex offender debate peaked when Algoma residents realized they were being notified only when the worst of the worst sex offenders moved into their communities. When citizens demanded more oversight, local police said they didn't have the manpower to enforce housing ordinances. So the people took their problems to a township meeting. Algoma's RRL does allow one unique exception. If offenders live with a relative, by blood or marriage, they may live within a child safety zone. Mingus says this is more of an allowance than most states provide. Most residents are satisfied that the RRL passed, but the debate seems far from over. “Is the RRL an answer? Absolutely not. This is a Band-Aid fix for our town,” he admits. “I think this comes down to dollars. If we could slap GPS bracelets on all of them and keep track of them, that would be great. But we're seeing resistance in that area because of cost. So for now, I am just hoping we get enough states to pass RRLs and the federal government will take notice and do something about this problem.” Wisconsin is not the only state struggling with this issue. In California, where an estimated 100,000 released sex offenders and 10,000 sex offender parolees reside, Proposition 83, more commonly known as Jessica's Law recently passed, with 70 percent of citizens voting to prevent sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a park or school. The proposition also requires many offenders to wear GPS devices for life. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is responsible for paroling these offenders, but CDCR spokesman Bill Sessa says the new law will make this issue more complex. “We already impose housing restrictions on sexually dangerous predators,” explains Sessa. “Jessica's Law basically means that we're expanding those restrictions to every sex offender.” By expanding those housing restrictions, sex offenders may end up living together in highly concentrated areas. Sessa says that the CDCR is solely responsible for finding appropriate housing for these offenders while they are under supervision and providing treatment, and treatment easier to offer when they live in groups. “Communities might not like it, but if we drive these offenders out of housing, the biggest drawback is that we lose sight of them,” he adds. “There are plenty of examples of sex offenders going underground to avoid registration, and that is not in the best interest of public safety. It is also a drawback as far as rehabilitation is concerned. One of the first steps of rehabilitation is therapy, and we cannot offer those services if we cannot find the offender.” The distance sex offenders are required to live from churches, schools and parks varies from county to county, but Sessa says even with these restrictions the public unrest is obvious. “They are very concerned about sex offenders, and very much opposed to having live among them,” he adds. “It is an issue we have to deal with all the time, in all states.” But sex offender housing issues are doing more than just raising debate. They are decreasing home values. In North Carolina, researchers recently examined the impact sex offender housing has on the real estate market. It their report, There Goes The Neighborhood? Estimates of the Impact of Crime Risk on Property Values From Megan's Laws. Columbia University researchers found that Megan's Law, which requires them to register and document where they live, impacted real estate markets for towns and neighborhoods where known sex offenders reside. “We basically took the information from sex offender registries that would provide information not just on where a sex offender lived, but also when they moved into their current location. It turned out North Carolina offered that information so we decided to focus our efforts there,” explains report co-author Leigh Linden. After evaluating sex offender locations, property values and reports from real estate agents, Linden found the largest depreciation in those areas closest to sex offenders. “We did not expect to see a four percent drop in real estate values for these homes,” Linden says. “But that's exactly what we found.” Although his research cannot speak to where sex offenders might end up in the future, it does indicate that people who live around sex offenders make a decision to move away. “The important thing to note from this is that sex offender housing isn't an issue being blown out of proportion by any means,” Linden says. “This is an issue people are making extensive financial decisions about. They want to manage the risks they face, and their children face, at any cost. When a sex offender moves into a neighborhood, the property values drop and people move away. The degree to which this affects the public is a lot stronger than we anticipated.” Although it is not clear exactly where sex offenders may live in the future, many citizens and officials believe the federal government needs to step in and clear up the standards that surround the issue. For now, states, cities, counties and townships are on their own to create a solution to a country-wide problem. Related resources: Meeting Anthony, 10/16 Sex offender checks during Halloween, 11/01 Sex offender web database becomes law, 7/28 |
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