Hollister
– The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved funding on
Tuesday for Sheriff Curtis Hill’s OffenderWatch, a program that
will more effectively track sex offenders.
Hollister – The San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved funding on Tuesday for Sheriff Curtis Hill’s OffenderWatch, a program that will more effectively track sex offenders.
OffenderWatch is designed to track registered sex offenders in coordination with the Sheriff’s Office Web site, notifying community members of their movements and whereabouts through post cards or e-mails. The board unanimously approved the $7,500 needed to fund the program Tuesday. Hill spoke of OffenderWatch’s reputation Tuesday morning.
“This is the very best one out there available for counties,” Hill said. “Through my travels in the state I became aware of this vendor.”
Hill hopes the program will be up and running in mid-January. The program will make San Benito the fifth county in California to adopt the use of OffenderWatch. The Kings County, Placer County and Tehama County sheriff’s offices currently offer OffenderWatch through their Web sites. Hill also spoke with Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller about incorporating the county and city sex offender lists to be available through the program.
The Hollister Police Department conducted a citywide sweep Friday for the 49 sex offenders registered with the department. Three offenders were found to be no longer living at their registered address, a violation of the California Penal Code, police said. Police are investigating the three in violation and will be following up on 10 offenders whose addresses could not be confirmed.
County Supervisor Jamie De La Cruz applauded Hill for spearheading the adoption of the program. De La Cruz said he had tried to implement a similar program several years ago.
“I support you 120 percent,” De La Cruz said. “Not only as a leader in the community, but also as a parent.”
De La Cruz said the program would be an important resource to educate parents.
“I get a lot of calls from parents: ‘Where do I go?'” De La Cruz said.
The approval of the program follows California’s adoption of a statewide sex offender proposition this year.
But a judge in November blocked enforcement of Proposition 83, the ballot measure approved by 70 percent of California voters in the general election that’s meant to crack down on sex offenders, including limiting where they may live and forcing them to wear Global Positioning Systems for tracking purposes.
The so-called Jessica’s Law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, effectively prohibiting parolees from living in many of California’s cities. Hill said the restriction would force many offenders out of California’s urban areas and needs to be revised.
Parolees are currently prohibited from living within a quarter-mile – or 1,320 feet – of a school, with a half-mile restriction only for high-risk sex offenders.
San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield said the future of the law has yet to be resolved but added that the tracking of sex offenders is legal.
Hill said it is important to San Benito to know where those offenders reside.
“It’s a huge item for our community,” Hill said. “What’s going on with sex offenders.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or
mv*********@fr***********.com
.
