A recent event in our area is a good reminder that public safety is not just about monitoring dangerous criminals, but proactively protecting victims and potential victims of crimes.
I was shocked when I heard about the release of a homeless sex offender in our community, who was instructed by community supervision officials to live under the 88th Street bridge, which crosses U.S. 2. The bridge is located less than five miles from the home of the offender’s victim and near an elementary school. Not only is this more common than we would like to believe, but a new law passed last year, Senate Bill 6157, is adding to the erosion of our corrections system’s integrity.
In this case, corrections officials outfitted the sex offender with an electronic monitoring device, or global positioning system (GPS), but the system was set up as “passive.” That means the police only discovered the offender had removed the GPS device when they reviewed his activity report about a day later.
I have consistently believed the Legislature can and must do better when it comes to tracking and monitoring sex offenders, particularly those who don’t want us to know where they live. This year, I and many fellow lawmakers sponsored legislation that would have required Level 3 sex offenders, considered the most dangerous, and homeless sex offenders to be outfitted with a real-time GPS device. Had this bill passed, police would have been notified the instant the sex offender removed the GPS device and alerted them to take immediate action.
Another serious consequence in this case was created by the “fair share provision” in Senate Bill 6157. Despite strong opposition from victims’ advocates and others, Senate Bill 6157 requires sex offenders to be released back into the communities of their original crime. Victims’ groups were rightfully concerned that sex offenders would be placed in communities where their victims live. It’s this provision in the law that led to the sex offender living under a bridge in our community.
This incident illustrates why I have advocated for a comprehensive overhaul of Washington’s public safety laws. When the agency we trust to manage the public’s safety is advising a sex offender to live under a bridge near his victim and a school, it’s time to redesign state policies to prioritize, first and foremost, victims of crimes. State leadership must act now — bold and innovative decisions on strict policies must be made to protect our families.
It’s not enough for the State Department of Corrections to simply tell families state laws and the agency’s internal policies will protect them from dangerous criminals. We need an action plan, like the one I supported last session and will support again next year. I am also working to fix the many problems created by Senate Bill 6157. We must ensure our public safety laws make protecting victims a top priority.
Legislation I am proposing for the 2009 legislative session would:
nProhibit a sex offender from being released into a county where his/her victim lives;
nRequire the victim be notified as soon as possible when the sex offender is released from any confinement;
n Require all sex offenders who register as homeless to wear a real-time GPS monitoring device with clear protocols for monitoring;
n Require a one-year mandatory prison sentence for sex offenders who disable or remove a GPS monitoring device on their first offense;
n Require a 180-day mandatory jail sentence for sex offenders who attempt to disable or remove a GPS monitoring device on their first offense, and a one-year mandatory prison sentence for their second offense; and,
n Require the victim be notified as soon as it is discovered a sex offender has removed or disabled his/her GPS monitoring device.
It’s critical that we tighten our public safety laws to protect families and victims before felons. Currently, there are almost 1,400 sex offenders the state cannot find, which is evidence of the need for a thoughtful debate on what has been done and what steps should be taken to update our laws. It’s time to change these errant policies and make sure sex predators understand they must follow the rules or suffer the consequences. I believe we can and must do better to protect the citizens of this state.
Rep. Kirk Pearson lives in Monroe and serves the 39th District. He is the Republican leader on the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee.
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