Governor Doyle Announces Over 1,000 Noncompliant Sex
Offenders Tracked Down
Unveils New List of Wisconsin’s Most Wanted Sex
Offenders,
Announces New Anti-Crime Partnership for Milwaukee
BROWN DEER – As part of his ongoing efforts to tighten the net around
sex offenders in Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle today announced that teams
of retired law enforcement and sex offender registry experts have tracked
down over 1,000 noncompliant sex offenders since he launched the
initiative last year. To advance the Sex Offender Apprehension Felony
Enforcement (SAFE) Initiative, Governor Doyle directed the Department of
Corrections (DOC) to add dangerous, adult sex predators who committed sex
offenses as juveniles to the sex offender registry Web site.
“One of the greatest fears that every parent in Wisconsin has is that
their child might be put in danger by serial sex offenders in their
neighborhood,” Governor Doyle said. “From requiring lifetime GPS
monitoring to toughening penalties to include life sentences without
parole, we’ve made enormous progress. But we can’t stop there. Today, I am
pleased to announce that we have reached a major milestone – tracking down
more than 1,000 sex offenders who had evaded the law – including 26 of
Wisconsin’s Most Wanted.”
Governor Doyle also unveiled a new list of “Wisconsin’s Most Wanted Sex
Offenders,” and announced that with help from the public, law enforcement
authorities have located 26 on the list since May. In addition, the
Governor announced that he has directed the DOC to make the state’s
official Sex Offender Registry Web site more informative and useful to
parents.
Locating Noncompliant Sex Offenders
Governor Doyle announced that 1,019 noncompliant sex offenders,
including 616 who committed crimes against juveniles, have been tracked
down by SAFE Teams, comprising retired law enforcement professionals and
sex offender registry specialists from the DOC.
Coordination among law enforcement agencies has forced more sex
offenders into compliance with state law, raising the rate of compliance
to 88 percent from 82 percent one year ago, when Governor Doyle first
ordered a crackdown on sex offenders who have not complied with the sex
offender registry. The average compliance rate nationally is 76 percent.
Tracking Down Wisconsin’s Most Wanted
The Governor also announced that 26 of "Wisconsin's Most Wanted" sex
offenders are among the 1000 that have been tracked down by his law
enforcement teams. The Governor released the list of 38 of the most
dangerous and elusive predators in May, and asked for help from the public
as well as law enforcement in locating them. Now that 26 have been tracked
down, Governor Doyle is adding 21 new names to the list, including child
molesters and rapists, as well as people with a pattern of stalking
behavior, multiple violent crimes, and crimes against children.
Developed by Governor Doyle’s SAFE Task Force, a group of 15 top law
enforcement leaders from across the state, the offenders on Wisconsin’s
Most Wanted were selected based on a comprehensive set of criteria
including seriousness of offense, overall criminal history, history of
complying with registration rules, and other factors.
Information about each offender is available on the Most Wanted Web
site:
www.mostwantedsexoffenders.wi.gov.
Governor Doyle asked citizens with any information on the whereabouts
of any sex offender to contact local law enforcement or the “SAFE Tip”
hotline toll free at 1-877-234-0085 or via email at
docsafetips@doc.state.wi.us.
Calls will be answered by DOC staff Monday through Friday between
7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Citizens with any immediate concern for their
safety or the safety of a child are asked to call 911.
Lifetime GPS Tracking
Under the SAFE Initiative, Governor Doyle has directed the DOC to
implement the most advanced technology to monitor the most dangerous
predators. The most dangerous sexual predators in Wisconsin, those who
have been committed under the state’s Chapter 980 law and then placed on
supervised release, are now being tracked using state-of-the-art Global
Positioning System (GPS) monitoring.
In addition, Governor Doyle signed landmark legislation last year to
require lifetime GPS tracking for serious and repeat sex offenders.
"This expanded GPS will help law enforcement know exactly where these
people are every minute of every day," Governor Doyle said. "And if
they go someplace where they put kids in danger and violate their
probation, we'll know immediately and we'll put them back behind bars."
Directive to Upgrade Sex Offender Registry Website
Governor Doyle also today directed the Department of Corrections to
make further improvements to the State's Sex Offender Registry Web site
that will give the public more information about sex predators in their
neighborhoods, including e-mail alerts.
As part of this effort, the Governor is directing the Department to
begin posting dangerous adults on the Sex Offender Registry Website who
committed sex offenses as juveniles.
Additional Web site enhancements include:
Expanded search capacity, including a map function to help users
determine where sex offenders are residing within a community or in
relationship to a specific address.
Automatic e-mail notification about information updates on specific
offenders, giving users the option of receiving alerts on registrants
in a specified geographic area.
Additional offender data, including Special Bulletin Notification (SBN)
status, whether victims were under age 18, absconder status, warrant
status, and deportation status.
The Web site,
http://WIDOCOffenders.org
, currently contains enlargeable color photographs of each registrant’s
face, along with physical descriptions, conviction information, compliance
status
and DOC contact information for those offenders who are under the
supervision of a DOC agent.
Regional Cooperation
This spring, DOC Secretary Matthew Frank convened the first-ever
Midwest SAFE Summit with four neighboring states to share ideas and best
practices on effective sex offender tracking and registry management.
Since then, Wisconsin has exchanged sex offender information with
Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota, pioneering one of the first
systems in the country to share registry data electronically on a regular
basis. Data from partnering states shows a total of 870 people from their
state registries listed a Wisconsin address. As of today, 765 – 88 percent
– have been located.
Due to the achievements of the SAFE Initiative, Wisconsin was one of
only two states in the country to earn a grade of “A” and the only Midwest
state to receive a grade higher than “D” in a report issued earlier this
month by the national children’s advocacy group Parents for Megan’s Law.
Milwaukee Anti-Crime Partnership
In addition, as part of a broader anti-crime effort, Governor Doyle
also directed the Department of Corrections to assemble an elite team of
13 probation and parole agents to work with Milwaukee law enforcement to
intensively supervise the highest risk offenders coming out of prison and
returning to Milwaukee neighborhoods. They will also coordinate with law
enforcement to aggressively round up people who violate the terms of their
release. And at the recommendation of the Milwaukee Police Department, the
Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance will make $300,000 available to the
Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office for community prosecution.
This will provide continued funding for four community prosecutors –
engaged in long-term, proactive partnerships among the prosecutor's
office, law enforcement, the community, as well as public and private
organizations.
In addition, the Department of Corrections will now give a 30 day
notice to Milwaukee law enforcement officials whenever an offender is
about to be released.
“While the number of murders is down in the city this year, it's still
been a summer with far too much violence,” Governor Doyle said. “After
consulting with Mayor Barrett and Chief Hegerty, I'm directing the
Department of Corrections to work with Milwaukee law enforcement to create
a special team of probation and parole agents who will focus on the
highest risk offenders. And if these individuals break the conditions of
their release, we’ll put them back behind bars.”
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10/12/2006
