VT- Top cops confront sex crimes challenge

This is a perfect article to show how foolish "Top Cops" are in their thinking. They are stuck in the "trackum" mentality as being the way to prevent new sex offenses. Tracking former offenders has statistically been proven to be the wrong way to prevent over 90% of new sex crimes. The Dep't of Justice reviewed over 73,000 sex crimes and found that 93% of them were accomplished by someone close to the victim, someone in the daily lives of the victim (Note: Brooke was killed by her UNCLE). The Dep't of Justice also tells us that the recidivism rate of former sex offenders is around 3.3% as to minors. Michael Jacques (Brooke's uncle) was registered and tracked and still offended, admittedly he was a serious former offender likely a true pedophile. So is tracking the answer? No. The 90% of new sex crimes shows one must look into the lives of victims, so to speak, follow that trail to look for answers. Tracking former sex offenders will not prevent new sex crimes. These "Top Cops" need to change their thinking if they are going to be effective in preventing new sex crimes.

8-30-2008 Vermont:

MONTPELIER — Law enforcement agencies across Vermont need to work together to prevent sex crimes and to track offenders outside prison, four top officials told a legislative panel on Friday.

Detectives investigating sex crimes need special training and understanding of the different ways many sex offenders think, the participants said. The best way to keep them from re-offending is to monitor them closely, said Col. James Baker, the commander of the Vermont State Police.

Constant manipulation

"These folks are always, always, always manipulating (and) thinking about their next move and the only way you can keep them off guard is to supervise them to the point where they have to worry about the next time they're going to be checked," Baker said.

And a number of special law enforcement units being contemplated for the state to combat sex crimes should include probation and parole officers from the Department of Corrections, Baker said.

The officers testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is investigating how the state manages sex offenders.

The meetings were prompted by the disappearance and death 12-year-old Brooke Bennett of Braintree.

Brooke disappeared June 25 and was found dead a week later. Her uncle Michael Jacques, a 42-year-old convicted sex offender who had been released from prison before serving his minimum sentence, has been charged with her kidnapping.

The panel is looking for the best way to update Vermont's laws governing sex offenders. The lawmakers are supposed to have their report completed by the middle of November.
The Friday afternoon session was billed as a "round-table" between the officers and the panel. Besides Baker, the participants from law enforcement were Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling, Lamoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux and Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Ingrid Jonas, who specializes in sex crimes.

Schirling, who spent five years with the Chittenden Unit For Special Investigations and has studied child sexual exploitation, said it can be impossible to determine if someone who commits a relatively minor sex crime will go on to commit more serious crimes.

"Their thought process is different than the average person. They have a single minded nature about the way they think about things," Schirling said. "They have a need driven, underlying fantasy to offend in a sexual way... It's almost like an addiction."

Baker said an entirely different thought process was needed to deal with sex offenders.

"You can't look at these people like you can save them. I can't be any blunter than that," Baker said. "It's not that they can't be controlled and it's not like they can't function in society, but that's going to have to be with a high level of supervision."

To minimize the risk posed by sex offenders law enforcement in Vermont is going to have to change the way it does business, the participants said.

Baker said the state police was willing to lead, but it would have to be given the resources to focus on the highest profile crimes. ..News Source.. by WILSON RING