Offender Watch Verify Only/MDC – User Training

 Offender Watch is our statewide sex offender database and statewide sex offender web site.  Offender Watch is paid for and managed through state funding provided to the Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs (WASPC)  Offender Watch is real time in that as data entry is made, the information is immediately available to all law enforcement users in the state. It is also provides real time updates to our web site available to the public for Level 2, Level 3, homeless, and Kidnapping offenders. 

 To learn the basic functionality and use of Offender Watch:  How to conduct database searches for possible suspect identification  How to conduct paperless address verification using Offender Watch via MDC

Look on your MDC desk top for the world icon. If you do not have Offender Watch available on your MDC please contact Your initial login will be ____ followed by your personnel number such as SCSO1296 and the initial password is ____. Please change your password when you log in the first time

 Once in Offender Watch go to the Utilities tab at the top of the screen and click on it to view the drop down menu  Click on the “change password” choice  Passwords are required to be at least eight characters long and must contain at least one upper case letter, one number, and at least one special character  Your password is permanent and you will not be required to constantly change it (for now)  You can change it on your own at any time.  If you forget your password contact the RSO unit and one of us can reset your password for you.

 If you have not logged into Offender Watch for over 90 days your account will become inactive.  Should this occur contact someone with the RSO Unit so that your account can be re-activated and your password will be reset. (The reset password will be the same as initial password, ______  Passwords are required to be at least eight characters long and must contain at least one upper case letter, one number, and at least one special character  All user accounts have been reactivated prior to the training period. If you can’t get logged in contact someone in the RSO Unit.

 You do not have the ability to change offender information in Offender Watch. You can’t break it. You have read only access to everything except address verification. You have the ability to update address verification for patrol checks, and add comments for the address verification.  All fields are searchable across all tabs  You can build a search profile with any piece of suspect information you receive during an incident  These searches may provide valuable identification of possible suspects in crimes where the suspect may be a registered sex/kidnapping offender.

 Start by clicking on Offender Search in the upper left corner  Click on the Physical Traits tab and review all of the choices you have. These include ranges for height, weight, age which may be valuable for searches.  Don’t overlook the Scar/Mark/Tattoo Keyword search.  Tattoo photos are in found in the “investigative notes” tab under “images” (this is a work in progress)  Along with physical traits the Address Details, Work/ School/Volunteer, and radial search tabs may also provide valuable information.  Enter the information that you have available and update it as you receive new information.  Once you have entered your search criteria click on the “Search” button and you will get a list of matching offenders. Remember to hit the search button as you add or change information so that the list is updated.

 Once you have a list of offenders you can print the list that may be valuable for identifying and contacting possible suspects.  Locate the “print list” button and left click on it.  From the drop down menu choose the “thumbnail list” option and left click on that.  Complete the two step print process  You now have photos and addresses for follow-up

 Double click on an offender name in the list to view the offender’s details  Click on a specific tab to view details  Current and historical offender photos are available under the photo tab  A complete history of previous offender addresses is available under the Address/Phones tab  Sex offender bulletins are available under the Public Comments tab for Level 2, Level 3 and kidnapping offenders

 When you want to start a search over click on the “reset all” button to clear all fields  Don’t reset all if you are adding, or updating search criteria, just add or change the fields  Click on the “Select All” check box to check statewide  Highlight a city, beat or reporting area to restrict your search to a specific area  You can highlight more than one reporting area or city at one time. Click the shift, or control button, hold it down and click on multiple reporting areas or cities.

 Enter the following information into Offender Watch to begin a search  White  Male  40’s to 50’s years old  Check your results  Should be about 1200 offenders, and about 600 of those are active

 Update and add the following information  Height 5-06 to 5-08  Weight 140 to 160  Suspect has blue eyes  Review your updated results  Should be about 27 total, with 9 being active

 Finally update your search to include the following  Suspect wearing grey hoody with “Everett Hydraulics” printed on it  Click on the “work, school, volunteer” tab. Enter “Everett Hydraulics” in the “name” box on the right side  Your search result should now be down to one person  Jeffrey Henderson  This search example shows how when you develop and update search criteria your results will narrow down to the point that you may be able to identify a suspect or person of interest

 With the current upgrades to MDCs we will be switching over to paperless RSO checks as of _____.  The address verification worksheet will only be needed when offenders are found to no longer be living at their registered address.  In general this process will reduce work load because patrol checks will be completed based on real time information rather than dated information from the beginning of a month.

 Once in Offender Watch click on the “Manage Verifications” tab at the top of the screen  Check the “Verifications due in Date Range” check box  Highlight the year of the starting date then click and hold the down arrow to roll the year back to at least 2000 or earlier  The end date should be the last day of the current month and year you are searching  Click on the down arrow under “Verification Type” and highlight the correct verification cycle for the offender’s risk level  In the “Zone” area highlight the reporting areas of your search. Hold down the control key and click on multiple reporting areas to search more than one at a time.  Now click on the “Search” button  This will provide you with a list of offenders who are due for address verification

 From the list either highlight the offender  and right click to get the drop down menu. Click on “Edit Verification” or double click on the offender’s name in the list if you want to view his entire record.  If you have opened the record then click on “Edit Verification” button to update an address verification.  You are now at the edit verification screen.  If you complete the verification, click on “verified -ok” from the drop down of verification status. This updates the current date and inserts your user ID in the “verified by” box.  Update the Verification status to:  Attempted – Unable to contact anyone at address  Verified Ok - (face to face contact or verified by other person)  Verified – AWOL (Verified through written statement that offender no longer lives at this address)

 If you have any comments regarding the verification please include them in the “Comments” section. Such as “Face to Face Contact” if it applies.  Once this information has been entered be sure to click on the save button (top or bottom of page) to save the record. This also updates the next verification date for the next cycle.  Once the record has saved then click on the “close” button to return to the list  Once you have saved the record you are done.

 If you find that the person no longer lives at their registered address the process is the same as in the past.  If at all possible get a written witness statement from the person providing the information  Have the witness provide any contact information for the offender (phone number, new address, contact person, etc.)  Use the verification worksheet, ask the questions from the form. Have the witness include answers in their statement. Complete the narrative (this is your police report) DO NOT pull a case number.

 Additionally ask the person their relationship to the offender. Have them document that in their statement.  If the witness identifies the offender by a photograph document that as well.  You can print the offender report that includes the photo from the list view of the offenders  Highlight offender in the list view  Right click, then hover over “reports”  From the drop down menu left click on offender report  Once the report is open click on print (two step print process)  Include the offender report with the address verification worksheet that is sent to the RSO unit. 

 Forward completed address verification worksheet, offender report, and witness statement to the RSO Unit.  If the place is vacant provide as much information as you can in your narrative (contact, real estate company, phone number etc. If you take photos, copy them to a CD and include that with the worksheet, offender report, and witness statement.

 This is an alternative way to conduct address verification once you have pulled up a list of offenders that require verification. You do not have to use it if you are comfortable working from the list.  The map can be helpful for routing from verification to verification.  Once you have the list left click on “Map Results”  You will now have a map with colored bubbles. The color of the bubble indicates the offender’s risk level. You can also click on “Legend” at the bottom left for definitions.  Legend:  Level 1 = Red Level 2 = Dark Green Level 3 = Blue Kidnapping = Yellow No Risk Assigned = Neon Green or Brown

 Left click on the bubble and a photo and address will come up.  Left click on “Edit Verification”  Uncheck the “Use Anniversary Date” (Default setting)  You will have to use the drop down menu to input the appropriate cycle and Status. You will also have to fill in your user name for the “Verified By”  This is the “Quick Verification” data entry screen and does not auto fill as well as the “edit verification” screen from offender list.  It does update the next cycle when the record is saved.

 If you have any questions about this process please contact someone from the RSO Unit. Contact numbers are on the next slide.