San Antonio City Councilman Carlton Soules wants to ban registered sex offenders from all 254 parks in town. They would be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor crime.
The new ordinance would prohibit registered sex offenders from entering city parks and they would be prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a city park.
"Security of the parks has always been a major concern especially as we develop the trail system," said Soules. "This eliminates the temptation, it eliminates the ability for them to be there in the first place."
Soules said the SAPD reports lewd contact and indecent exposure is a big concern at several parks. Recently, Park Police reported stepping up efforts to arrest people who are up to no good at area parks.
Mary Sue Molnar, with Texas Voices for Reason and Justice said this type of 'not in my backyard banishment type ordinance' is often seen in small communities. She said there is no research to support child safety zones or restrictions to residency works.
"So, we've seen what happened in Florida, where hundreds or thousands of registrants are sleeping under bridges and behind buildings, that's not keeping anyone safer," said Molnar.
There would be a process where a person could seek exemption from the ordinance and those already living near a park would be grandfathered in.
Councilman Soules is also asking for a review of how much it costs to operate the San Antonio Sex Offender database. He would like to implement a user fee so registered sex offenders would help pay for the cost to manage that database. ..Source.. by James Muñoz
See also: Proposal would ban sex offenders from parks
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