In one of the most recent efforts to protect the public from sexual predators, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched the National Sex Offender Public Registry. The Web site, www.nsopr.gov, provides links to individual state registries, and the DOJ intends to link to most states by year's end. But as local governments know, when it comes to residents' safety, registering sex offenders is only an initial step.

Sex offender information provided on the national and state registries, while vital, is far from foolproof. To begin with, not all sex offenders are conscientious about complying with registration requirements. It also does not help that states do not have uniform classifications and registry requirements, creating loopholes that allow offenders to move to states that are less restrictive. Also, while sheriffs in Ohio, for instance, use the Internet to provide almost instant sex offender registration information to the public, Oregon has yet to establish a publicly accessible online registry.

The recent New York murder of Connie Russo-Carriero, allegedly attacked by a high-risk registered sex offender who had served more than 20 years in prison, is a grim reminder that registering offenders is not always enough. New York Senator Jeff Klein is pushing for a civil commitment law, dubbed Connie's Law, that would require violent sexual offenders to be committed to mental institutions after they have served their prison sentences. Currently, 16 other states and Washington, D.C., have civil commitment laws — which allow the government to commit people involuntarily to mental institutions — on their books.

Some cities are addressing the dilemma by creating zoning ordinances that effectively restrict where convicted sex offenders may live. In May, Hamilton Township, N.J., became the first in the nation to restrict sex offenders from residing within 2,500 feet of schools. Hamilton also requires convicted sex offenders to register not only with the cities in which they live, but also with the cities in which they work.

“We have a great sensitivity to [the sex offender] issue,” says Richard McLellan, chief of staff to Hamilton Mayor Glen Gilmore. And with good reason. Hamilton was home to Megan Kanka, the seven-year-old girl whose rape and murder by a convicted sex offender who lived on her street resulted in the federally mandated community notification program known as Megan's Law.

Woodfin, N.C., does not restrict where sex offenders live, but it does limit their movement. An ordinance that passed in May prohibits registered sex offenders from entering local public parks. The law was inspired in January when a pedophile moved into a rental property in a low-income neighborhood across the street from a park. A working class town and former mill village, Woodfin has a high proportion of rental housing, which brings with it a disproportionate number of sex offenders into the community, says Jason Young, town administrator.

“We had looked at [restricted zoning for sex offenders] around parks, churches and schools and felt we were on shaky ground,” Young says. “We felt we had a stronger card on property we own and maintain.” The New York-based American Civil Liberties Union presently is suing Woodfin over the ordinance, arguing that the law stigmatizes rehabilitated offenders and violates their constitutional rights.

Other critics of zoning ordinances argue that such restrictions do little to lessen the threat of repeat crimes and that dealing with sex offenders should be a collaborative effort between law enforcement, probation officers and health professionals.

Global positioning system (GPS) monitoring, which uses ankle bracelets to provide real-time tracking, is an alternative some states have considered for certain high-level offenders. Florida and Missouri already have enacted legislation requiring lifetime GPS monitoring of some types of sex offenders, and Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell is proposing lifetime GPS monitoring of sexual predators that prey on children and the elderly and billing the costs of such monitoring to the offenders.
— Annie Gentile is a Vernon, Conn.-based freelance writer.