Sex Offender Community Notification: Assessing the Impact in Wisconsin

• NCJ Number: 185933
• Author(s): Richard Zevitz; Mary Ann Farkas
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 31 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis

Annotation

Results of this assessment of the impact of sex offender community notification in Wisconsin show that, in general, community notification was being used the way legislative policymakers intended; however, the decision to involve an informed and watchful public in a collateral network designed to manage the behavior of released sex offenders comes at a cost.

Abstract

The basic dilemma associated with community notification is balancing the public's right to be informed with the need to reintegrate offenders within the community. Wisconsin, along with 49 other State jurisdictions, has tried to strike a balance between these competing interests through enactment of its sex offender community notification statute. In doing so, police chiefs and sheriffs have experimented with various approaches to notifying the community. These methods include, among others, community meetings, news media releases, and internet postings. This assessment of the impact of the statute's implementation involved surveys of 704 neighborhood residents at 22 community notification meetings throughout the State, together with direct observations of notification meetings. A statewide survey of 312 police and sheriffs' agencies yielded usable data from 188, combined with field observations of law enforcement agencies across the State. There was a statewide survey of 128 probation/parole agents and supervisors from units with sex offender caseloads and face-to-face interviews with 30 convicted sex offenders residing in various locations throughout the State. Findings show that although the law's primary goal of community protection is being served, it carries with it a high cost for law enforcement and corrections in terms of personnel, time, and budgetary resources. Probation/parole field units have the problem of locating housing in the community for sex offenders. The sex offenders worry about harassment, having to move constantly, and the possibility of placement in a correctional facility in lieu of residence in the community. They are also concerned about the stress on their families. The pressure placed on many sex offenders under community notification should be examined as a factor in determining the success or failure of their reintegration into society. 4 notes, 6 references, and 6 exhibits