1. Sex Offender Accountability
Donna Uzzell
Director CJIS Florida Department of Law Enforcement

2. Scope and Scale What we know about sex offenders
Data not current ( )
Sketchy at best
Does not constitute the extent of the issue
Risk assessments have their own associated risks
Phil
Truth of scope and scale – the information is limited and does not show extent of issue
Very few studies and information dated

3. Scope and Scale
Recidivism for sex offenders is 43% compared with 68% for non sex offenders
An estimated 24% of those serving time for rape and 19% of those serving time for sexual assault had been on probation or parole at the time of the offense
Within the first 3 years after being released from prison in 1994, 5.3% of released sex offenders were rearrested for a new sex crime, 40% within the first year
(BJS recidivism study 1994)
Phil
Sex offenders do have a lower rearrest rate.. 43% compared to 68%
Age not a factor like in other crimes
As you may recall from our other studies on career offenders, they tend to be less active after a certain age, that does not necessarily hold true for sex offenders. Older prisoners did not necessarily have the lower rearrest rate.
Number of priors directly proportionate to rearrest rate.. The more prior arrests they had, (regardless of the crime) the greater their likelihood of being rearrested for another sex crime.
Released sex offenders with 1 prior arrest (the arrest for the sex crime for which they were imprisoned) had the lowest rearrest rate for a sex crime, about 3%; those with 2 or 3 prior arrests for some type of crime, 4%; 4 to 6 prior arrests, 6%; 7 to 10 prior arrests, 7%; and 11 to 15 prior arrests 8% (BJS 1994 recidivism of sex offender study)
One comment in a Washington study indicated that the fact that they had such a low “base rate” of recidivism makes it challenging to predict reoffending. That is a good lead in point to the matrix slide on low frequency but high risk.

4. Scope and Scale
Impact of community notification on offender recidivism
Recidivists in the community notification group were rearrested sooner than recidivists in the non-notification group
However, the level of re-offending after 4.5 years was the same
Note: This is on known offenses
State of Washington study
Phil
This is older study by Finn.. Next slide shows a “just released” December 2005 study from Washington as well that shows community notification laws “may” have impact on recidivsim.

5. Scope and Scale cont.
More recent research: study from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Have community notification policies reduced the recidivism rates of sex offenders?
20% reduction in felony recidivism rate
70% reduction in felony sex offending recidivism rate
Phil
“Violent and sexual felony recidivism by sex offenders in Washington has decreased since passage of the 1997 statute. The causal link to notification laws is not proven by this research. Other conditions may be contrib uting to this reduction, such as the national and state drop in crime rates and the state’s increased incarceration (incapacitation) of sex offenders. However, the drop in recidivism rates by sex offenders is clear, and the influence of community notification laws cannot be ruled out.

6. Coming Soon
National Symposium on Sex Offender Management and Accountability
September 26th through 28th 2006
Coronado Springs Resort, Orlando Florida
Special One Day Workshop for Sex Offender Registry Officials (Sept. 25th)

7. Sex Offender Management Survey
Sent to all 50 state registries
Forwarded from registry to local law enforcement agencies and probation
Sent to select probation offices and prosecutors
916 responses
32 Registries
623 Law Enforcement
144 Probation
117 Prosecutors

8. State Registry Survey
Due to technical difficulties in the administration of the survey tool, need assistance from the following states:
Alaska New Mexico
California North Dakota
Delaware Ohio
Indiana Oklahoma
Kentucky Pennsylvania
Maryland Rhode Island
Massachusetts South Carolina
Mississippi Vermont West Virginia

9. Most Problematic Ratio of workload to personnel
Mgt of homeless sex offenders
Tracking and registering out of state offenders
Difficulty in keeping track of offenders
Validation of sex offender records in NCIC
Dealing with non-compliant offenders

11. State Registry Process
Some states include automatic notifications
2 actually have statewide notification program
Tip line or 800 number for public
50% of states have a hotline
Only 27% answered 24/7
One state has specific identification for sex offenders

17. Obtaining Warrants for Non-Compliant Offenders
49% obtain warrants 100% of time
66% enter into local/state system
59% enter warrants into NCIC

18. Absconded Sex Offenders Florida Model
FDLE to provide analytical assistance to local agencies in locating absconders
4 positions dedicated to locating absconders
Within 7 months have located 619 absconders

19. Locating Absconders
Databases should be utilized to assist in search to include:
All public record databases
Search of jail locator systems
Watch lists
Social security database searches
Other governmental agencies databases
Licensing, public assistance, Medicaid, driver records, criminal history
Interview relatives, friends, neighbors, past employers
Donna

20. NCIC SUPERVISED RELEASE FILEWA ME MT ND OR NH MN VT ID WI NY SD MI WY MA PA RI IA NV NB CT OH NJ UT IL IN CA DE WV CO VA MD KS MO DC KY NC TN OK AZ SC NM AR AL GA MS LA TX FL
Puerto
Rico AK HI
Virgin
Islands MK GM
FEDERAL AND STATE
RECORDS
STATE ONLY
RECORDS
FEDERAL ONLY
RECORDS
NON-PARTICIPANT
STATES AM
TOTAL COUNT: 270,726
24 STATES