Lower the 2500 foot ordinance back to 1000 feet

In my opinion, we as a society have a “not in my backyard” mentality towards offenders. Meaning, we only worry about the offender who lives in our neighborhood. We don’t think of the one who lives in the neighborhood or city next to us. That’s someone else’s problem, not mine.

There has been a steady increase in popularity with these ordinances which mandate residency restrictions for Sex Offenders. Politicians are implementing these ordinances and promoting them as a way to keep our kids safe. What is not being taken into consideration is the likelihood of an offender to be forced underground, due to these ordinances. This would create havoc for law enforcement agencies that are required by law to verify offender’s addresses. Furthermore, it could generate problems for probation officers who must monitor these offenders.

Instead of keeping our children safe, are we creating an atmosphere for the offender to become transit or homeless? Offenders are beginning to change residences without notifying authorities, registering false addresses or just simply disappearing. With this, an offender could travel from place to place committing their crimes and it would take law enforcement months or even years to link their crimes or locate the offender.

I would only pose this question when thinking of enacting a residency restriction ordinance in your area. Is it better to know who they are and where they live (even if it means next door) or to place such restrictions on these individuals that we force them underground?