Managing Sex Offenders: Citizens Supporting Law Enforcement: A Resource for Law Enforcement

• NCJ Number: 216151
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 52 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-DK-BX-K002
• Agencies: BJA-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Reference Material

Annotation

This federally supported guide provides comprehensive resource information for law enforcement on Federal, State, and local legislation passed across the United States regarding the management of released sex offenders and programs developed under the Citizen Involvement in Sex Offender Management Project (CISOM) using citizens to assist law enforcement to manage sex offenders.

Abstract

Many laws have been passed during the last two decades to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to monitor and track sex offenders in the community, as well as on the Internet. National legislation has created systems and community notification requirements. State legislation has centered on increasing penalties and expanding the scope of State sex offender registries (SORs). Local governments are passing laws to further restrict registered sex offenders. A chronological review of key national laws is presented and described. These sex offender management policy mandates add an additional burden on law enforcement. Operational challenges facing law enforcement directly or indirectly resulting from legislation ranging from enforcing residency restrictions to the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are discussed. To assist in these challenges, volunteers are helping law enforcement fill voids in their efforts to effectively maintain public safety and comply with sex offender mandates. The guide offers profiles of 13 different law enforcement agencies’ efforts to engage citizens in such activities through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Citizen Involvement in Sex Offender Management Project (CISOM). The guide concludes with a listing of national initiatives that seek to increase law enforcement’s ability to prevent, reduce, investigate, and prosecute crimes committed by sex offenders.