Josh Intlekofer's Journalism Coursework

You Have the Right to Know About The Ones Who Live Around You

Have you ever considered how safe your neighborhood really is?  The neighborhoods in every community are packed full of people that you have no idea who they are or what they might have done in the past. Well if you are considering having children, looking into buying a new home, or just want to ensure the safety of you and your family there is an answer to that question; the website www.familywatchdog.us

The goal at Family Watchdog is to provide you with the information you need to protect your loved ones. The database allows you to view known registered offenders and predators in your area. Knowing who these people are and what they’ve done provides you with your best defense to protect your family, and that’s awareness.

The site was designed to be very easy for its visitors to use. You specify addresses that you want to watch and the distance around those addresses, then the website does the rest. They update the data daily from multiple state sex offender registries. You can register to be notified as soon as a convicted sex offender registers an address in your area.

You may ask, what was done to ensure that these offenders have to register and how is it enforced?  There is actually a sad story to how the legislative acts were brought about; it took the strength of a family to fight through the pain of losing their own son to reach the point we are at now.

On October 22, 1989, an 11 year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in his hometown of St. Joseph, Minnesota.  Four months after Jacob’s abduction, his parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling, formed the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, an advocacy group for children’s safety. In 1994, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexuality Violent Offender Registration, more simply known as the Jacob Wetterling Act, was passed in his honor. It was the first law to institute a state sex-offender registry.

During Police Address Verification Sweep 76 Sex Offenders Not In Compliance, Another 27 Missing

Last week, local law enforcement conducted an address verification sweep of registered offenders in Reno. The sweep targeted 284 local sex offenders to verify their registered residence, Reno police spokesman Steve Frady said. Of the 284, officers were able to verify 180, with 76 not being in compliance and another 27 who were not located.

Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit, which is comprised of officers from the Reno Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and the Sparks Police Department, conducted the sweeps.  The sweep consisted of seven two-person teams, targeting offenders in the area north of Plumb Lane and south of Interstate 80, and between Keystone Avenue and Galetti Way.

Under state law, sex offenders who have been released from jail are placed in a classification level that indicates their potential to re-offend. They are also required to register their addresses with local law enforcement.

Officers also made four arrests during the sweep, including two for probation violations, and the other two for crimes non-related to new sexual violations.

In the official registry, a non-compliance status describes convicted sex offenders who fail to initially register or fail to comply with an annual verification or fail to update personal information; i.e., residential address, employment information, school information, pursuant to NRS 179D.250 and NRS 179D.470.

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