Internet Access—

State Improves

Sex Offender Registry

By Andrew Gorosko

State police have announced an improved sex offender registry system to help police agencies keep better tabs on the state’s sex offender population, and also to allow the public to better track registered sex offenders in their area.

At a news conference on October 28, Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that the state police will manage an interactive sex offender registration system for law enforcement agencies, and will also manage the sex offender registry website on the Internet that is used by the public.

Federal law requires states to maintain a central registry of sex offenders and to provide public access to the registry, according to a statement from state police.

“The number one priority of government is to keep its citizens safe, especially our youngest and most vulnerable. We have an obligation to keep our children free from danger each and every day,” Gov Rell said in the statement.

“The sex offender registry is an important resource that families can use to protect their children near their homes, their schools, and their playgrounds,” she said.

Ten local people are listed on the sex offender registry. Five live in Newtown, and five are living in Sandy Hook.

Previously, the public Internet portal to the sex offender registry provided a basic listing of the more than 5,000 sex offenders living in the state. The new version of the registry adds many software features and provides added detail about offenders.

John A. Danaher III, commissioner of the State Department of Public Safety, said, “While protecting the public and solving crimes, the men and women of the state police use effective law enforcement tools. The enhanced sex offender registry provides our troopers and the public with another weapon to protect our children and our neighborhoods.”

The improved Internet system collects all data required by the National Sex Offender Registry and makes it available to all state agencies responsible for the registration of sex offenders. By using the system to track sex offenders, there will be little or no delay in obtaining new or updated information, according to state police.

Public users of the Internet-based system will be able to log on to a Web portal to search for specific offenders, to register to be notified by email when an offender moves into their area, and to use a mapping tool to view offenders living within a specified radius of a given address.

Users can enter addresses for specific locations — such as a home, a school, a child care center, or a park — to search for offenders living nearby and receive notifications when a sex offender moves into that area. The registry’s mapping feature will provide a geographic risk assessment, which gives a visual representation of an offender’s location on a map.

The state will rapidly update sex offenders’ address changes on the sex offender registry.

Use of the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry System is free and confidential, according to state police.

Access the upgraded sex offender registry at www.ct.gov/dps, and then click on the Sex Offender Registry link on the left-hand tool bar.