Featured Issue: 6-17-05
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Michigan Registered Sex Offenders: Out of Compliance, AWOL, Unaccounted For, Absconded, what does that mean?
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5-9-2005 Michigan:
Sex offenders AWOL from state registry: Nearly 9,000 not accounted for; pictures to be online by autumn |
.On May 1, the State Police ramped up the registry by posting pictures of some offenders. The Secretary of State provides the photos, which must be verified before they are posted. By fall, photos should be available for every sex offender on the registry, said Shanon Akans, State Police spokesperson. [snip]
State Police are not required to make sure that sex offenders update the registry. But State Police spokeswoman Melody Kindraka said when police catch people who were required to check in and didn't, arrest warrants are issued and entered into the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN). As soon as their records are pulled up -- such as during a routine traffic stop -- officers will know they are absconders.
Few police agencies check to make sure sex offenders within their city boundaries are registering and updating addresses, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said last week, but he has made it a priority. County deputies are visiting the homes of sex offenders who have not registered or updated their addresses with police. Offenders who have not checked in but have not moved are to be slapped with a misdemeanor punishable by to 90 days in prison. Offenders who have moved and not registered are subject to a felony charge punishable by up to four years in prison, said Bouchard, who, as a state senator, sponsored the 1996 legislation to make the registry public. [snip]
"I think the number of people not registering is diminishing in Oakland County," Bouchard said. "I think adding the photos to the registry will be a useful tool, too. Individuals often don't want to report in and if a neighbor or someone sees the person's photo, they can help us double check. We're training the eyes and ears of the community to help us run down those individuals who are breaking the law." [snip]
Critics of the state's efforts to keep track of sex offenders agree that the photos may help, because they make identification easier. "If the registry were better updated and had a better compliance rate, it wouldn't be necessary to have photos on it," said state Rep. Leon Drolet, R-Clinton Township, who helped come up with the idea to add headshots to the sex-offender database. "They just don't have adequate manpower to keep tabs and follow where people move." [snip]
: by ZLATI MEYER, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
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5-9-2005 Michigan:
Thousands missing from state sex offender registry |
.DETROIT (AP) -- Nearly one-quarter of sex offenders are not listed on the state's complete registry because they have not updated authorities on their whereabouts, Michigan State Police say. [snip]
Of Michigan's 36,748 registered sex offenders on the state's complete registry, which is available only to law enforcement, nearly 9,000 -- or 24 percent -- have stopped checking in with local law enforcement agencies or have not provided their current address. The public registry has fewer names because juveniles and certain other offenders are not listed.
Officials believe the system will become more efficient as photos of offenders are added to the registry. State police began putting photos of some offenders online on May 1, and photos of every offender on the registry should be available by fall, said spokeswoman Shanon Akans said. [snip]
The U.S. Department of Justice says 5 percent of sex offenders are arrested for another sex crime within three years of their release from prison, a rate four times higher than that of non-sex offenders. [snip]
: by Detroit Free Press
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5-4-2005 Michigan:
Tracking Offenders |
.The state admits its lost track of 2200 sex offenders. Their compliance rate is 74%. Going by school grades, that's a "C"
Lt. Col. Tom Miller said, “Truthfully, you are right, the number of 74 % compliance isn't what we'd like to see. We'd like to see that higher but it does become a resource issue."
The sex offender registry is only run by 2 people, they don't do investigations. That falls on the shoulders of local police departments. [SNIP]
: by Kathy Reynolds, WZZM 13 News
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We have been following the number of "missing sex offenders" as reported by the Michigan State Police (MSP) in news articles for some time, Jul 2002 (1,100) to now Jun 2005 (2,200). Yes, the number appears to have gone up 100%, however, in that same period the registry size has grown from 29,500 to today 36,748 roughly 20% larger.
Yes, that is 3.8% missing to 5.9% today, but the big jump seems to have occurred just this year and coincides with the addition of photos to the registry. The Free Press reported "almost 9,000" so what is the problem? It has to be the definition of "missing" prior to photos, and now they are calling it "absconders," true there are prior articles referring to it as "absconders" but the big jump is in May 2005.
Lt. Col. Tom Miller, on 5-4-2005 to another reporter, verified the 2,200 but also said it is only 74% compliant and would like to see that higher.
Interestingly, the term "Out of Compliance" has a totally different definition than "Absconders." This is our point today, MSP 4-25-05 "Backgrounder" file:
"As of April 2005, there were 36,748 offenders in the SOR. Of those, 2,344 were juveniles and 11,882 were incarcerated. On average, 200 new offenders are added to the SOR per month. The Michigan SOR has a compliance rate of approximately 76 percent. Those offenders not in compliance either failed to change their address or failed to verify their address."
However, then in the MSP 6-1-05 "Backgrounder" file:
"As of April 30, 2005, there were 36,900 offenders in the SOR. Of those, 2,400 were juveniles and 11,900 were incarcerated. On average, 200 new offenders are added to the SOR per month. The Michigan SOR has a compliance rate of approximately 66 percent. Those offenders not in compliance either failed to change their address or failed to verify their address."
Apparently they did not publish a 5-1-05 "Backgrounder" file, likely tied up with photo conversions. Now, notice the comments in the sidebar articles about the addition of "Photos" on May 1, 2005 and how by doing that they hoped the compliance rate would improve. How can compliance improve by adding photos?
Now, furthering the Definition of Out of Compliance:
6-1-05 Backgrounder file, pg-2
B.Sex Offender Registration Act Violations:
Individuals not in compliance with the SOR Act are offenders who fail to register, fail to sign the registration form and/or fail to comply with reporting duties, including failing to verify and/or change their address. These individuals are also known as absconders.
The SOR Act allows an arrest warrant to be authorized by a prosecutor for an absconder. After a warrant is entered into LEIN, the absconder can be apprehended during a traffic stop or any other contact with law enforcement. In addition, law enforcement agencies conduct periodic sex offender sweeps, during which offenders' addresses are verified and absconders are actively sought.
Now, "out of compliance" is expanded to include "fail to register, fail to sign the registration form and/or fail to comply with reporting duties." I have no problem with the fail to register, thats a given, but "forgetting to signing forms" and the real troublemaker "fail to comply with reporting duties."
"Fail to sign form," when you go in you fill out form (given to you by a state / county worker), and if you forget to sign it, that state worker has no responsibility to make sure the form is correct, including signature. Thats what that says, of course that conflicts with the MSP Training Manual, but at least they would get to convict someone of a "Technical Violation," something like a technical violation of parole or probation.
"Fail to comply with reporting duties," this it turns out is the worst one, because it is not defined. One example, does everyone know their address, sure you say, but how well? Do you live on a Street, Avenue, Place, Court, Blvd., etc. and have you "complied with the reporting duty" which requires you to provide correct information? Think about it, your address, you name, your alias (if any), proper spelling, proper formatting, etc.
Again, furthering the Definition of Out of Compliance:
6-1-05 Backgrounder file, pg-3
A. Offender Photographs:
Public Act 238 of 2004 requires the PSOR to include the photograph of each individual registered under the SOR Act. To fulfill this requirement, PA 238 allows the MSP to obtain photographs from the Secretary of State.
The photographs were posted beginning May 1, 2005. By May 31, approximately 65 percent of the photographs were available on the PSOR. The remaining offenders either do not have a Michigan driver's license or state identification card, or the Secretary of State records did not match the information in the PSOR. Records without photographs are being addressed by the SOR Unit staff.
"Fail to comply with reporting duties," the law requires that a registrant have a "Michigan driver's license or state identification card," and they have already found some who do not have that. Further, "the Secretary of State records did not match the information in the PSOR," in other words, is your address the same in both places, they already know many are not the same. Clearly they have cross checked files.
I found one more point folks should know about:
6-1-05 Backgrounder file, pg-3
A. Public Sex Offender Registry Statistics:
As of April 30, 2005, there were 20,000 offenders on the PSOR. The PSOR does not include offenders who have moved out of the state, are incarcerated, have a known false address or are juveniles.
So there we have it, a more reasonable explanation of how the "Out of Compliance" rate went from 5.9% based upon 2,200 actually "Missing Registrants," to 34% based upon a large percentage of "Technical Violations."
However, this is only my theory. Now that you have more information, what do you think?
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