Since two sex offenders were charged with killing four women while under state and federal watch, California has changed how it supervises such parolees, increasing scrutiny of some and relaxing the monitoring of others. A Times analysis of state data shows that the number of parole agents with caseloads exceeding state limits has increased under the new system, further stretching California’s already strained ability to oversee freed sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreTag: GPS
FL: State bills aim to monitor sex offenders for life
A new push has begun in the state Legislature to require convicted sex offenders to wear ankle monitors to track their movements for the rest of their lives. Two essentially identical bills, Senate Bill 134 and House Bill 203, aim to keep tabs on past offenders to make sure they don’t slip away so it becomes impossible to track them. But some experts said such laws would immediately be challenged in court. Full Article
Read MoreSERIAL KILLINGS: Case puts sex-offender monitoring under fire
Sitting on her couch with her two dogs, Detective Laura Lomeli peered at a series of red GPS dots on her laptop, searching for clues about a young woman whose mangled, nude body had been discovered weeks before on a recycling facility’s conveyor belt. Full Article
Read MoreIllusion of Safety
When two registered sex offenders wearing GPS tracking devices were arrested on suspicion of killing four women, the Orange County Register launched an investigation into how this could happen in a state in which Jessica’s Law proponents promised: “GPS monitoring could have saved Jessica Lunsford’s life.” The result was a series of articles documenting dangerous gaps in an overburdened system that promised more than it could deliver. Here is a story that pulls together what the Register discovered. Full Article
Read MoreJessica’s Law promised more than it could deliver
Jessica’s Law, the ballot measure to harness sex offenders, began eight years ago with a promise – one that parents whose daughters have disappeared, as well as law enforcement experts, now say lulled California into a false sense of security. Full Article
Read MoreReview finds parole agents swamped with sex offender caseloads
Nearly two-thirds of parole agents who monitor sex offenders juggle caseloads that exceed department standards, a state corrections review reported Wednesday in response to an Orange County murder case. Agents are supposed to supervise between 20 and 40 parolees, depending on how many are high-risk offenders. But more often than not, the state Office of the Inspector General found, agents are overburdened. Full Article
Read MoreStudy: Sex-offender GPS no panacea against crime
LOS ANGELES – The California law mandating GPS monitoring of sex offenders can provide a false sense of security for the public, according to a report released Wednesday. While it can help law enforcement authorities find suspects after a crime has occurred, it has only limited benefits in preventing crime in the first place, the report says. The report from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Inspector General was requested after two Orange County sex offenders who were required to wear GPS devices were arrested last spring in the…
Read MoreMA: SJC upholds GPS monitoring of sex offenders
The state’s highest court has rejected a challenge to the state law that requires GPS monitoring during probation for people convicted of certain sex offenses involving a child. The court said the law gave judges no discretion on whether to impose the GPS monitoring during probation, and the Legislature had good reasons for enacting the law. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia not following recommendation on parole agent caseloads
California never adopted the recommendation that the caseloads of agents supervising sex offenders be reduced, despite the urging of a blue-ribbon task force that was set up after an arrest in the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, and the deaths of others at the hands of those under the state’s watch. Instead, agent caseloads remain at levels as much as twice what the task force deemed safe, while duties for those agents have been greatly expanded. Full Article
Read MorePeople Confront Exclusion Zones
Steven Yoder has written a wonderful piece which describes how people in various communities are fighting back against the use of exclusion zones, especially as a condition of electronic monitoring. Exclusion zones most frequently are used against people with sex offense convictions. The rules for exclusion zones typically ban certain groups of people from coming within a certain distance of places where children are likely to congregate-like schools, parks, and churches. Full Blog Post Article by Steven Yoder: Do Residency Bans Drive Sex Offenders Underground?
Read MoreInternal report praises monitoring of sex offenders accused of murder
An internal investigation of the effort to track two high-risk sex offenders now accused of raping and murdering four women praises federal probation officers and puts the ultimate blame for their being unaware of the crimes on “the complex nature of human behavior.” Full Article
Read MoreFeds: Laws threw sex-offenders together, undercut GPS monitoring
Federal probation officers charged with supervising two Orange County sex offenders who are accused of four killings were overworked, underfunded and hampered by GPS systems that did not communicate, an internal inquiry concluded Wednesday. Full Article
Read MoreLawmakers call for review of sex offender oversight
Top state and federal legislators on Wednesday called for investigations of sex offender supervision in response to a high-profile case involving two suspected Orange County serial killers. State Senate President Darrell Steinberg formally requested a statewide review of electronic monitoring and voter-approved housing restrictions. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, plans to request a federal probe focused on the local case. Full Article
Read MoreHow GPS monitoring fails in critical public-safety ways
Experts say law-enforcement agencies have a poor track record of sharing GPS data for proactive purposes. They work well in investigating crimes; less so in detecting them. New details in the high-profile case of two accused Orange County serial killers have revived concerns that federal supervision of California sex offenders is deeply flawed. Full Article
Read MoreIs there a loophole in CA’s tracking of sex offenders?
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —Certain sex offenders are supposed to be tracked and monitored, even after they’re released from prison. But according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, hundreds of them have registered as transient — and some are doing so to avoid detection and certain living restrictions. Full Article
Read MoreSteinberg seeks sex offender review beyond ‘what sounds good’
SACRAMENTO– California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg says he’ll seek a state investigation into California’s supervision of sex offenders that goes beyond the circumstances of two Orange County transients recently accused of killing multiple women while they were supervised by state and federal agents and tracked on electronic monitors. Steinberg’s staff said Friday that the Sacramento Democrat planned Monday to formally request a probe by the office of inspector general. However, speaking at a public policy forum Monday afternoon, Steinberg said his office is still drafting a call for an inquiry into the…
Read MoreProbe of GPS monitoring of suspected serial killers sought
SACRAMENTO — The leader of the state Senate is seeking an investigation into how two sex offenders being monitored by parole agents and tracked by GPS devices were allegedly able to rape and kill four women without being detected. Full Article
Read MoreA Criminal Justice System in Crisis: Suspect Serial Killers Slip Through the Cracks in OC (Op-Ed)
In light of the recent arrests of two registered sex offenders in connection with four murders in Orange County, I’d like to share an article that I originally wrote a few months ago for OC Lawyer Magazine. The tragedy brings into focus the critical shortcomings of our state’s sex offender registry and the stress it puts on a criminal justice system already in crisis. As far as public policies goes, the laws regulating sex offenders are incredibly difficult to approach and reform, but we owe victims (and potential victims) a…
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