Sex-offender names, addresses will be made public
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Marisa O’Neil
The state Assembly on Tuesday voted to make the names and addresses
of the most serious sex offenders available to the public. But until
those changes are signed into law, local residents can get only
general information online or at their police department.
The Newport Beach Police Department recently launched a page on
its website -- in addition to its database available at the station
-- that shows on a map the general area where registered sex
offenders live. It does not, however, give specific information such
as high-risk offenders’ names and addresses.
“Any time you make the public aware of the perpetrators in the
community -- the more information you get out -- the more you can
protect or eliminate future victims,” Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Jack
Archer said.
Residents can use computers at the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa
police departments to search by zip code or by name for sex offenders
living in their areas. Those databases are available under Megan’s
Law, named for a New Jersey girl raped and killed by a paroled child
molester.
Megan’s Law allows law enforcement agencies to make public certain
information on convicted sex offenders.
The proposed changes to the law in California would apply only to
the most serious or “high-risk” offenders, who have usually committed
one or more sexually-based, violent acts, Archer said.
Neither Newport Beach nor Costa Mesa has any high-risk offenders,
police said.
According to the Newport Beach Police website, 20 serious sex
offenders live within the city. A search of Costa Mesa’s two zip
codes on the Megan’s Law system turned up 105 serious offenders.
Convictions for a variety of offenses -- from a violent rape to
simply “mooning” people for a gag -- could require someone to
register as a sex offender for the rest of his or her life, Costa
Mesa Police Det. Clinten Dieball said.
The new information on the Newport Beach Police Department website
shows a map of the city with circles showing a general area of where
registered sex offenders live. That system is similar to a “pin map”
on the Orange County Sheriff’s Department website, which shows
offenders only for the areas it serves.
The Sheriff’s website also includes more information on its
high-risk offenders but not the exact address of residence.
“[For high-risk] you see the photo, name, physical description and
general area of residency,” Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Bishop said. “It
will give you a block or finite location and give the nature of the
offenses.”
Residents will find similar information if they access the Megan’s
Law database from the departments’ special computer terminals. But
even that provides only the zip code, not an actual address where
offenders live.
People can, however, conduct searches for a particular name or for
an entire zip code. Offenders’ names, convictions and photographs are
all accessible from the terminals.
“The picture provides an opportunity to look at an individual that
might be my neighbor or the clerk at the convenience store,” Dieball
said.
Costa Mesa Police get a few people each week using the database.
They must first sign an agreement saying they will not use the
information to commit a crime, Dieball said.
But some people are disappointed that the system, also used in
Newport Beach, doesn’t give more specific information about an
offender’s place of residence, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve
Shulman said.
“We don’t have as many people [access the database] as you would
expect,” he said.
Newport Beach businessman Craig Brown said that going into the
police department each month to see who’s moved into a neighborhood
is too inconvenient for most people. He started the company Children
Alert to send out e-mails to subscribers, letting them know when an
offender moves into their neighborhood.
But because more departments, like Newport Beach and the Orange
County Sheriffs, are posting the information online, he temporarily
suspended the service.
Right now, Costa Mesa Police don’t have any plans to go online
with offenders’ information, but residents can access the information
at the department.
The state Senate passed the legislation -- Assembly Bill 488 --
last week. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet stated an position
on the bill.
* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be
reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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