Local facility to house homeless sex offenders

12-17-2014 Ohio:

MANSFIELD – The Richland County Community Corrections Board approved a change Wednesday to admit some homeless county sex offenders to a local facility.

Nothing Into Something Real Estate is a faith-based nonprofit agency with headquarters in Columbus. Representatives from the group proposed two changes at Wednesday’s meeting.

One change would expand the eligibility for the exit program, now located on East Cook Road, to admit some homeless Richland County sex offenders who committed their crimes locally.

Target populations include homeless sex offenders convicted of failure to register and those who have completed Volunteers of America sex offender treatment.

No sex offenders will be accepted from other counties. The program will provide housing and monitoring, with treatment to be referred to existing local agencies.

The measure passed unanimously.

“It’s hard to keep track of a guy who has no residence,” Common Pleas Judge Brent Robinson said.

Robinson said Judge James DeWeese, who was ill Wednesday, drafted the language.

The other change would be to establish a homeless women’s program in the county, located in two of the houses of the old Crossroads halfway house. The program would initially house up to 15 women who are convicted in and reside in the county.

In other notes from the meeting, Mansfield Safety-Service Director Lori Cope said vehicle thefts in the city have gone up “astronomically.” Such thefts are up 133 percent this year.

Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page offered a reason.

“We have a theft ring that is going on in three counties,” she said. “They’re stealing cars and chopping them.”

After the meeting, Couch Page declined to divulge the other two counties.

In his update, Commissioner Tim Wert asked sheriff’s Maj. Joe Masi about the possibility of deputies wearing body cameras “due to things that are going on nationwide.”

“We’re checking with three different companies; Mansfield police are doing the same thing,” Masi said. “It does come with a hefty price tag. For everyone to have a camera, it would probably be $40,000 to $50,000.” ..Source.. by Mark Caudill

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Sex Offenders In Homeless Shelter? It's A Scare Tactic

11-19-2009 Massachusetts:

Anybody want to own the hair-on-fire statistic that 50 percent of the homeless men who will use the no-freeze emergency shelter proposed for downtown Hartford are sex offenders?

Anyone?

I tried to track down who floated that idea. But so far, no takers.

Not our number, said Mike Zaleski, head of the downtown business improvement district.

His recollection: It came from city staffers during a conversation about the impact a shelter at Center Church might have on downtown residents and businesses.

Really not sure, the city's chief operating officer, David Panagore, said when I asked him the source of the number. Later, he said his staffers merely told residents and business owners that based on a one month survey of one city shelter there was a possibility that a portion of the homeless men at the emergency shelter would be sex offenders.

If that's really the case, something clearly was lost in the translation because that alarming stat even made it's way into hysterical e-mails from residents who couldn't believe anyone would consider "a facility which the City estimates will be 50% percent utilized by registered sex offenders."

Truth is, I dismissed the figure at first. I was more interested in dealing with the claims that putting a shelter in the heart of downtown would somehow kill economic development. Plus, I thought, who would believe such an outrageous number?

But then I'm watching the nightly news and there's a local anchor repeating it as though it's fact. And I come in Wednesday morning to e-mails from people in an understandable lather about a shelter that's going to be "overrun with sex offenders."

Being the diplomatic lad that he is, Zaleski said city staffers were merely trying to be realistic about the homeless population who would likely use the shelter.

Actually Mike, reality has very little to do with the picture they painted.

The truth is they'd have to be clairvoyant to know who's going to use the emergency shelter on any given night. The men seeking a warm bed on a cold winter night will likely show up a few hours before the doors open. It could be a roomful of sex offenders, I suppose. But it could also be a roomful of veterans with no criminal records.

What we have here people is a scare tactic — and it's working.

If freaking people out over the potential hit to economic development isn't enough, then float a rumor about a bunch of criminals moving into a shelter near you.

Speaking of, another rumor was that the majority of Center Church members voted against the shelter and were still being saddled with it. But the Rev. Paul Goodman told me more than 80 percent of the members voted for it.

It was by no means an easy decision, he added. Even he struggled with the idea. But in the end, voting against the temporary shelter didn't keep with the spirit of the church's mission.

Here's the reality. Will some of the homeless men who use the shelter also be sex offenders? Probably. According to 2008 figures from the Hartford Police Department, there are 56 registered sex offenders living in the city's 10 shelters that service hundreds on any given night.

Should resident and church member concerns about safety be taken seriously and addressed? Absolutely.

Brian Baker, assistant director at South Park Inn, said he understands the apprehension. Housing sex offenders in homeless shelters isn't just an issue in Hartford, but nationally.

In Georgia, homeless sex offenders with nowhere else to go were living in the woods until they were recently ordered out. And in Connecticut, there's been talk about building housing specifically for sex offenders. Except no one's stepping up to build it in their town. Totally understandable.

But until we find a solution, letting people freeze to death because of misinformation isn't a good one. ..Source.. Helen Ubiñas

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FL- Sex Offender Decries Shelter Access Denial

8-17-2009 Florida:

LAKELAND | If a hurricane strikes Polk County, Ulyssess Smith won't be welcome at any of the county's public shelters.

The 33-year-old Lakeland resident is a registered sexual offender.

And while he has served his 10-year prison sentence, Smith still can't shake the stigma of his crime.

"I'm civilly dead," he said. "In a disaster, you find places for animals to go, but not people? You dehumanize me by telling me I can't go to a shelter."

Smith, who maintains he was wrongly accused, said he was released from prison two years ago and has tried to turn his life around. He is married, is the father to three children, the oldest of whom is 9 years old, and has another on the way.

"The real big issue is because I have a family," Smith said of the shelters. "If I didn't have a family, it wouldn't bother me."

Sheriff Grady Judd said Smith's wife, Tara Decosey, and their children are welcome to stay at a public shelter if they need, but Smith must fend for himself.

Smith, who was convicted of raping his ex-girlfriend and other charges in 1996, recently picked up a Polk County Sheriff's Office pamphlet that detailed what sexual offenders should do in a hurricane.

The brochure outlines the limited options for sexual offenders.

If an offender is on probation, they are to contact Florida's Department of Corrections for emergency shelter at DOC facilities.

If they aren't on probation, "As a sexual offender or predator, you will not be admitted to public shelters in Polk County," the pamphlet reads.

"We're not going to let them into our hurricane shelter," Judd said. "They have lost that privilege."

But Judd said this is not a new rule and offenders are notified of their limitations when they register.

"This is something he has known all along," Judd said of Smith. "He needs to stop complaining and find a place to stay."

But Smith argued about why those convicted of other violent crimes, like murder and aggravated battery, would be allowed at shelters and he isn't.

"It's not like I did something to a child," he said.

Judd cited research that shows a high recidivism rate among sexual offenders, as opposed to others convicted of other violent crimes.

As usual law enforcement refuses to accept DOJ statistics, and cannot prove that there is a high, or any recidivism, committed in emergency shelters. The more I study these issues I realize that, under public emergencies the 8th Amendment applies and they cannot chose who is to be saved and who is to be sacrificed.

"The last thing a person or family should have to worry about is if the person sleeping next to them or their children is a sexual offender," Judd said.

The rules for the public shelters are set by the Sheriff's Office and the Polk County School Board.

And because all of Polk's shelters are housed in public schools, the Jessica Lunsford Act prevents sexual offenders from staying there, said Paul Womble, the county's emergency operations program manager.

What? I have read that law and saw nothing as to RSOs and emergency shelters. WOuld someone find it for me IF it exists?

There have been no discussions among county leaders to create any shelter specifically for sexual offenders, he said.

"We don't have any shelters in the county that aren't public schools," Womble said.

Because state law dictates building standards for shelters, few buildings outside of schools meet the criteria.

Until a shelter is created, sexual offenders will have to seek refuge elsewhere in Polk. ..Source.. by Jeremy Maready, THE LEDGER

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TX- Evacuees unknowingly shared east TX shelter with sex offenders

And these same people live in the community and possibly even next door, and nothing happened in either place. Sounds like we have "The State Promoting Hysteria" and for what reason?

9-18-2008 Texas:

MARSHALL, TX (KSLA) - Some evacuees who sought safety in the ArkLaTex from Hurricane Ike ended up bunking down in a danger zone of a different kind.

Marshall Police told KSLA News 12 at least three sex offenders mingled among the general population in the civic center shelter for as long as 24 hours.

According to Det. Sonya Johnson, a spokeswoman for the department, this occurred during a power outage that swept across much of the city. She said because of the lack of electricity, staffers at the shelter could not perform the usual check-in process.

"When the buses came in, these subjects were here in the general population," Johnson said. "Once the power came on and the resources were made available, then, yes, we were able to separate them."

Johnson said the city of Marshall does not have the resources available that many larger metropolitan areas have, such as a separate facility exclusively for housing sex offenders.

However, she said once it was brought to the police department's attention, arrangements were made to move them. Two of them were taken to an undisclosed location which Johnson said is several miles from the civic center. A third person who could not be moved because of medical reasons is now in a segregated area within the building, she said.

People who unknowingly shared the shelter with the convicted criminals told KSLA News 12 were angry to learn the news.

-And, no one checked to see if there were any murderers, robbers, or other violent felons.

"We were left without lights for 24 hours," said Shekenia Jenning, a resident of Orange, TX and mother to three pre-teens. "How do we know what they were doing with our kids during those hours?"

When Jonathan Duhon found out what had happened, he held his toddler tightly, vowing not to let her out of his sight again.

"You see I have a beautiful little girl and I'd like to know if there's a sex offender here or not," he said.

While the news may be startling, Det. Johnson said the truth is the offenders could have remained in the shelter even longer without notifying anyone. Apparently under Texas law, a sex offender who evacuates has seven days in which to register his or her whereabouts with authorities. In Louisiana, the time limit is 24 hours.

-Now, while some lawmaker will want a law to change the time period, I'll bet they fail to think far enough into the issue to recognize, the offenders cannot leave to go register in an emergency.

Still, Johnson said there has never been any reason for shelter residents to worry. She said police officers and National Guardsmen have been keeping close tabs on everyone in the facility.

-Then, why move the sex offenders at all?

..News Source.. by Katrina Webber

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The Americans with Disabilities Act -and- Emergency Shelters

Separate registered sex offenders from the public during an emergency, is the latest cry! Lawmakers seem to be ready to do that in some places:

Sex Offenders Not Welcome

In a move that prompted one legislator to warn that it could give the public a false sense of security, the county Legislature recently passed a bill stating that sex offenders are not welcome in general emergency shelters. The legislation passed by a vote of 17-0, with one abstention.

"I don't want anyone to misconstrue my intent," said Alden, who abstained from the vote. "If we can't confine sexual predators for life, let's track them for life."

The resolution, introduced by Legislator Kate Browning (WF-Shirley), would require registered sex offenders, when entering an emergency shelter, to notify a shelter manager, a shelter employee, or a shelter volunteer of their sex offender status. To make sure they still have a place to go, there would be a separate facility established for sexual predators.

"You're going to ask someone in the middle of a hurricane? I don't think it's going to happen," Alden said. "I'm 1,000 percent sure he ain't going to volunteer the information."

"I'm wondering how well this can be implemented," Romaine agreed, "in that it requires them to say, 'I'm a sex offender.'"

Upon a sex offender's self-identification, the county Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services would be notified, and either the individual would be moved to a designated shelter, or assigned a law enforcement officer if they cannot be moved.

"There will be something posted that notifies them," Browning explained. "If they can't leave, we're not saying they can't have shelter, but law enforcement will keep an eye on them."

It is expected that County Executive Steve Levy will sign the legislation. "Although we feel it is redundant to provisions we already have in place to screen out sex offenders at shelter locations, the measure is like chicken soup - it couldn't hurt, and the county executive will sign it after a public hearing," said Mark Smith, a spokesperson for Levy.

Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, noted that during hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 30% of acts of alleged sexual predation took place in shelters, and 63% of the victims were targeted by acquaintances at a shelter. However, she said that she supported the bill only after Browning removed a plan calling on emergency staff to do a background check on everyone coming into a shelter. "Keeping track of over 800 offenders is the responsibility of law enforcement," Ahearn said. No Source for these statistics! Further, we could not find a single news story of a sex offense committed by a former sex offender in a shelter during these storms. Is this another factoid?

The measure also passed despite concerns raised over the constitutionality of limiting access to general emergency shelters, and assertions by Barraga that piecemeal legislation restricting registered sex offenders risks having all such laws thrown out in court. "And how do you implement this?" Barraga asked. "People are in a state of panic, do you think they're going to identify themselves? I don't think it is well thought out at all."

I wonder if lawmakers have considered what the requirements are for Emergency Shelters under the Americans with Disability Act?


It would be impossible to construct such a shelter -immediately- during an emergency, so the taxpayers will have to shell out mucho money for such shelters.

Oh yes, the alternate suggested is a police officer for each registered sex offender to monitor them during the emergency. WOW, do you think police should be worrying about RSOs rather than protecting the general public during an emergency? Again, the public will have to shell out a ton of money for such officers.

Well, its the law folks!

eAdvocate

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