Sex offenders more easily tracked with new alert system
Parents for Megan's Law to offer sex offender alerts and information through e-mail
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U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy speaks at a press conference announcing an expanded effort to track sex offenders in New York State. She is joined at the podium by, from left to right, U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, Parents for Megan's Law executive director Laura Ahearn, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and U.S. Rep. Peter King.
A $593,000 federal grant for the Stony Brook-based advocacy group Parents for Megan's Law will allow for the organization to offer a sex offender community e-mail alert system to hundreds of thousands of people across the country, according to the organization's executive director, Laura Ahearn. The new e-mail program will be launched by March 24 on Long Island and May 1 nationwide and will allow users to register, by any ZIP code, for alerts they would like to receive when a sex offender moves into a community.
"And you'll be able to look at a map and see where all the sex offenders live, their names and the crime of the offender," Ms. Ahearn said.
Ms. Ahearn announced the new program -- a more extensive version of an alert system the group currently offers for Long Islanders -- along with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Representatives Timothy Bishop (D-Southampton), Peter King (R-Seaford) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), who all touted the funds as necessary to help parents better educate themselves on sex offenders in their neighborhoods.
"We now have the ability to communicate with constituents in a more effective manner, such as e-mail, and I'm really glad to see the federal government could provide some assistance to really engage the community in a different way," said County Legislator Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham).
There are a little more than 1,200 registered sex offenders on Long Island, with 834 in Suffolk County and 453 in Nassau County. In Suffolk County, the zip code 11727, Coram, has the highest number of registered offenders, with more than 57 sex offenders residing in the area.
With the new system, residents in Coram, and, again, throughout the country, will soon be able to not only access information on where the sex offenders live, but easily find out how far away they are from schools, parks and day-care centers. The new system, which will receive national data from sex offender registries across the country, will send users alerts when an offender's information changes -- such as if they get a new probation officer or are using a different car.
"This is an education matter," said County Legislator Brian Beedenbender (D-Centereach). "Just knowing where somebody lives is not enough. Parents have to have more information on how to protect their children."
Additionally, the new system should help parents looking to move into a new area.
"If you want to purchase a new house, you can look by address and see what offenders live around you," Ms. Ahearn added.
The federal grant will help to fund an increase in advocacy and public education as well, Ms. Ahearn said.
"There are funds for support services for people who are victims of sex crimes," she said. "We can add additional advocacy staff. We have a heavy advocacy case load for victims of sex crimes and other violent crimes, and the federal funding helps us to deal with the increase in advocacy requests."
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