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| “Operation Watchdog” Targets 300 Registered Sex Offenders Countrywide |
| By San Diego County District Attorney |
| Published: 07/16/2010 |
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The San Diego SAFE (Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement) Task Force conducted “Operation Watchdog,” on Wednesday, July 14, a first of-a-kind sweep to locate targeted registered sex offenders in San Diego County and investigate their status. Twenty-six teams comprised of more than 110 local, state and federal law enforcement officers fanned out across the county in the early morning hours. Authorities contacted 300 known sex offenders, most of whom are not on parole or probation. Five of the teams were assisted by drug and firearm-sniffing dogs. “Our goal was to determine if these registrants are complying with the law and to identify any illegal activity they might be engaged in,” said David Collazo, Commander of the SAFE Task Force. “This sweep was different from on-going audits conducted by SAFE in its focus and geographic breadth.” Twenty registered sex offenders were found to be out of compliance and investigations have been opened on them. There were 9 arrests for various violations of parole or probation conditions, one arrest on a felony sex crimes warrant out of Salinas County and one arrest for drugs. The remaining individuals contacted were found to be in compliance with the law and living at their registered address. During the countywide sweep, there were also 24 searches done resulting in the seizure of one handgun, a laptop, and other items suspected to contain child pornography. “This kind of unprecedented cooperation between law enforcement agencies is what makes San Diego unique in its approach to sex offender management,” said Collazo. “We know all too well that monitoring known offenders closely is critical to public safety. SAFE and its partner agencies are committed to aggressively meeting that challenge.” Members of almost every local, state and federal law enforcement agency in San Diego participated in the operation by providing names of identified targets and by joining the audit and search teams. Canines were recruited for the first time to help determine the presence of illegal drugs or firearms for those offenders on probation or parole. In total, 26 local, state and national law enforcement agencies participated in Operation Watchdog. The SAFE Task Force was established in San Diego County almost a decade ago. Its mission is to diminish sex crimes and sexually-motivated crimes and apprehend the responsible offenders, thereby increasing public safety. There are about 4,000 registered sex offenders living in San Diego County. Already this year, the SAFE team conducted 1,036 regional audits and conducted more than 45 criminal investigations. Participating agencies in Operation Watchdog included: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Adult Parole California Department of Justice/Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force California Highway Patrol Carlsbad Police Department Chula Vista Police Department Coronado Police Department El Cajon Police Department Escondido Police Department Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives FBI/Department of Justice Immigration and Customs Enforcement /Department of Homeland Security Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force La Mesa Police Department Law Enforcement Coordination Center Naval Criminal Investigative Service/Department of the Navy National City Police Department Oceanside Police Department San Diego County District Attorney/Bureau of Investigation San Diego Harbor Police San Diego Community College Police Department San Diego Police Department San Diego County Probation Department San Diego County Sheriff Department U.S. Border Patrol U.S. Marshal U.S. Probation Office |
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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RECIDIVISM OF PAROLED SEX OFFENDERS – A TEN (10) YEAR STUDY Here are the highlights of Recidivism. California Sex Offender Management Board (www.CASOMB.org June 2008 The following figures on a ten-year California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) follow-up study of the recidivism of 3,577 individuals convicted of a sex offense who were released from CDCR prisons in 1997 and followed until the end of 2007 The bottom line with this study is: CUMULATIVE TOTAL OF ALL WHO HAD BEEN RETURNED TO CUSTODY UNTIL 2007- A 10 YEAR PERIOD 3.38% were returned to custody with a new sex crime,by the end of third year. 3.21 re-offended and the remaining seven years produced the remaining 0.17% AFTER PERCENT INCREASE YEAR 1 79 2.21% 2.21% YEAR 2 26 0.73% 2.94% YEAR 3 10 0.27% 3.21% YEAR 5 3 0.09% 3.30% YEAR 10 3 0.08% 3.38% TOTAL 121 3.38% 3.38%
Very good example of,"Turd polishing." The act of trying to make something hopelessly weak and unattractive appear strong and appealing. An impossible process that usually results in a larger, uglier turd. Understanding the "emotional" aspect of wanting to "punish," I really do believe we need to ask ourselves the real question. "How do we 'prevent' child sexual abuse in the first place?" www.helium.com/items/1735914-jessicas-la...ntion-of-child-abuse Three categories of sex offenders that must be dealt with. 1. The VIOLENT rapist. 2. Those who did NOT KNOW their victim 3. The REPEAT offender The vast majority, 97% of new sex offenders NEVER REPEAT another sex offense. So locking them up for 25 years is going to be very very costly. AND 87% of ALL new sex offenses are committed by family members and by those known to the family. They are NOT on a registry. So, in effect, the biggest threat to our children is not a registered sex offender but resides within our home and sphere of acquaintances. We need to be educated on research and be objective with that research. You'll notice that when a rare (percentage wise) heinous crime occurs, you will find the perpetrator to fall into one or all 3 categories mentioned above. I also believe, harsh mandatory sentences like Jessica's law will do more harm than good in the long run. It will cause some perpetrators to kill their victim, rather than have them witness against them. And of course, Jessica's Law is proving to be very ineffective in California. It is in effect creating homelessness and instability among the huge sex offender population. I don't see a one shoe size fits all. That's what Jessica's Law does, and that is very harmful to the citizens and the state. I do personally believe that Jessica's Law has back fired on us and we will experience more negative repercussions as time goes on. U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Anthony M. Kennedy in speaking to L/A. Lawyers at Pepperdine University, in reference to California's prison guard union's influence, with passing the Three Strikes Law, calling it 'sick.' I believe Jessica's One Strike and Your out, will also have devastating effects on every state that adopts it. Jessica's Law, is, in my opinion another knee jerk, emotional based law that gets law makers elected, but it is NOT researched based and that is the crux of the problem when it comes to the vast majority of sex offender laws in this country. These laws are great for the news media who can whip up a frenzy and cause emotional hysteria among the population for their ratings. They are NOT considering the research, simply because they wouldn't get the ratings. It's the same thing with politicians. They will tell us anything we want to hear, and all for votes. It is pure sophistry. Writing law that endangers rather than protect and prevent for votes is what we have been getting all across this country. I believe the laws as they are written today do more harm than good and for the very reason that they are NOT researched based! Legislators across this country must form a Task Force, within the state to study the research in order to write effective sex offender laws and policy.