After their sentences are complete, sexually violent predators are allowed to register as 'homeless'

7-4-15 Colorado:

DENVER - A recently released sexually violent predator registered his Denver address as "homeless," which turns out to be a common occurrence.

Earlier this week, Denver police posted a community notification on YouTube and Facebook about the release of --. He registered his address as the 1100 block of Park Avenue West, which is near Park Avenue West and Broadway. That location is near the Denver Rescue Mission and other homeless services.

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, sexually violent predators are given that designation because they meet certain criteria:

---A sexually violent predator is an adult who has been convicted on or after July 1, 1999 of a sex crime in accordance with statute committed on or after July 1, 1997.

---An SVP's victim must have been a stranger to the offender or a person the offender established a relationship with for the sole purpose of sexual victimization.

---An SVP must be likely to commit subsequent sex offenses based upon the results of a risk assessment screening instrument administered to the offender.

"The only requirements are that they register. You can't mandate somebody to have a home," said Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky, program manager with Colorado's sex offender management unit. "There is no state law that requires them to be in a certain location."

7NEWS checked and found 41 sex offenders listed as homeless in the 1100 block of Park Avenue West.

"This is a very popular block for them to register people as transients," said Josh Geppelt, senior director of emergency services for the Denver Rescue Mission. "It's kind of those Catch-22s, you may not want them next door to you in a home or an apartment, but you also don't want them homeless on the streets."

"To find residence as a sexually violent predator, and to have a landlord who would then be willing to have their address listed on a state site saying a sexually violent predator is registered here, some people are reluctant to rent in those situations," said Lobanov-Rostovsky.

"It's very dangerous because there are a lot of women out here," said downtown Denver resident Nikki Dorritie. "You should have an ankle bracelet on, to track your whereabouts, even if you're done with your time because you still have the chance to do it again."

In the case of Greer, he has served his sentence and is no longer on parole or probation.

"The law requires them to check-in more frequently with law enforcement, as a result, so there's greater safeguards in place in those situations," said Lobanov-Rostovsky. "They're expected to tell law enforcement where they're staying and if they're not staying there, they're in violation of their requirements to register and they can be charged with that as a 'failure to register' charge."

In May, another sexually violent predator, who registered as homeless in the 1100 block of Park Avenue West was arrested in the violent attack on a student on the Auraria campus. James Alphonso Holmes was charged with attempted first-degree murder and attempted sexual assault. He had been living as homeless since March. ..Source.. by Marshall Zelinger

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Software Predicts Criminal Behavior

Actually this is fascinating, a break in the usual logic, once you commit crime type A then you will always commit crime type A in the future. If the federal government were to use this it might be the first break in the Adam Walsh Act logic, you did it once there fore you will do it again, classification system. I'll be watching this one if they would name the system.

8-22-2010 Washington DC:

Program Helps Law Enforcement Determine Who Is Most Likely to Commit Crime

New crime prediction software being rolled out in the nation's capital should reduce not only the murder rate, but the rate of many other crimes as well.

Developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the software is already used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict which individuals on probation or parole are most likely to murder and to be murdered.

In his latest version, the one being implemented in D.C., Berk goes even further, identifying the individuals most likely to commit crimes other than murder.

If the software proves successful, it could influence sentencing recommendations and bail amounts.

"When a person goes on probation or parole they are supervised by an officer. The question that officer has to answer is 'what level of supervision do you provide?'" said Berk.

It used to be that parole officers used the person's criminal record, and their good judgment, to determine that level.

"This research replaces those seat-of-the-pants calculations," he said.

Technology Helps Determine Level of Supervision Needed for People on Probation or Parole

Murders, despite their frequent appearance on cop dramas and the evening news, are rare crimes. On average there is one murder for every 100,000 people. Even among high-risk groups the murder rate is one in 100. Trying to predict such a rare event is very difficult, so difficult that many researchers deemed it impossible.

"It's like trying to find the needle in the haystack," said Berk.

New advances in computer technology, however, can sift through that haystack more quickly and more accurately than ever.

Beginning several years ago, the researchers assembled a dataset of more than 60,000 various crimes, including homicides. Using an algorithm they developed, they found a subset of people much more likely to commit homicide when paroled or probated. Instead of finding one murderer in 100, the UPenn researchers could identify eight future murderers out of 100.

Berk's software examines roughly two dozen variables, from criminal record to geographic location. The type of crime, and more importantly, the age at which that crime was committed, were two of the most predictive variables.

Technology Doesn't Predict Future Crimes

"People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future," said Berk. "But what really matters is what that person did as a young individual. If they committed armed robbery at age 14 that's a good predictor. If they committed the same crime at age 30, that doesn't predict very much."

Baltimore and Philadelphia are already using Berk's software to help determine how much supervision parolees should have. Washington, D.C. is now set to use the algorithm to help determine lesser crimes as well. If those tests go well, Berk says the program could help set bail amounts and suggest sentencing recommendations.

Predicting future crimes does sound, well, futuristic, said Berk. Even his students at the University of Pennsylvania compare his research to the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report."

Nevertheless, he said, "We aren't anywhere near being able to do that."

Scientifically, Berk's results are "very impressive," said Shawn Bushway, a professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Albany who is familiar with Berk's research.

Predicting rare events like murder, even among high-risk individuals, is extremely difficult, said Bushway, and Berk is doing a better job of it than anyone else.

But Berk's scientific answer leaves policymakers with difficult questions, said Bushway. By labeling one group of people as high risk, and monitoring them with increased vigilance, there should be fewer murders, which the potential victims should be happy about.

It also means that those high-risk individuals will be monitored more aggressively. For inmate rights advocates, that is tantamount to harassment, "punishing people who, most likely, will not commit a crime in the future," said Bushway.

"It comes down to a question of whether you would rather make these errors or those errors," said Bushway. ..Source.. ERIC BLAND

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