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We need a special session to
update public safety laws
By Rep. Kirk
Pearson
Addressing public safety
issues is the top priority of state government – if families don’t feel
safe, everything else really doesn’t mean much. The governor and
Legislature should not wait until January to pass common-sense public
safety reforms. We can address dangerous loopholes in our laws this
month.
Legislators can adopt
policies to better monitoring of sex offenders and support the
hard-working Community Corrections Officers (CCO) while in Olympia for
committee week Sept. 25.
I believe the Legislature
is at a crossroads. Some interest groups want therapy and rehabilitation
for sex offenders, but failed to place any meaningful measures for
accountability. I want accountability in the corrections system and
adequate front line staff to keep track of dangerous felons and protect
the public.
This debate began when
three officers were killed by unsupervised felons under community
custody. Meanwhile, there have been countless other acts of violence
that have a need for tougher laws – a woman was raped and her young
child beaten, and a sex offender was found in the backseat of a woman’s
car in a shopping center parking lot. Sadly, that’s just the tip of the
iceberg.
We must update our laws
and the technology to ensure dangerous offenders are monitored, tracked
and held accountable to follow the rules.
The Legislature has its
work cut out for it. The first step is to address how front-line staff,
in this case CCOs, are treated, staffed and empowered to do their jobs.
At a public safety task force meeting in August, CCOs and other
corrections staff said they spend as little as 20 percent of their time,
that’s just 8 hours each week, tracking down sex offenders under
community supervision. The reason? Their department is understaffed and
CCOs are bogged down with office work and reports. Corrections officers
are assigned to monitor 30 to 50 felons each. They simply can’t monitor
that many felons in eight hours.
Adding to this problem,
because of potential liability, CCOs are discouraged from conducting
face-to-face visits with offenders. How can they know if a felon is
complying with the rules of their release if they can’t visit their
homes? These are scary facts.
The public believes that the state is monitoring every felon it releases
into our communities. But the fact is the state can’t track the 19,798
sex offenders already living in our communities, let alone all of the
other violent offenders the system continues to release. Terapon Adhahn,
accused of raping and murdering Zina Linnik in July, was classified as a
“lowest risk” offender and not monitored at all.
This issue will only get
worse because of legislation passed last year, Senate Bill 6157. The
bill requires the Department of Corrections to rely heavily on felon
“re-entry” programs, which will lead to the release of more offenders,
some of them violent predators, into neighborhoods statewide.
There’s a fine line
between compassion and accountability. The public has a right to know
who lives next door. Any lack of registration information gives sex
offenders power over their potential victims.
The Legislature can enact
common-sense policy changes that better protect families right now. I
introduced House Bill 2415 last session, which would give our CCOs more
tools to track and monitor dangerous offenders. Among other things, HB
2415 would constitutionally authorize CCOs to conduct random,
unannounced searches of sex offenders’ residences to make sure he or she
is following the rules of their release.
Additionally, I helped
craft the bills House Republicans offered for a special session this
month. The proposals would:
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Update our tracking
technology;
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Allow for better
community notification of all sex offenders who fail to register;
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Require DNA
registration for all sex offenders;
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Add email and internet
address registration for sex offenders.
These are common-sense
ideas that the governor has recently said she would consider for a
special session. I’m committed to creating safer neighborhoods, but I
need your help. Every citizen has a stake in public safety issues and
your voice must be heard. If you agree with our ideas or have some ideas
of your own, I encourage you to call the governor and your three local
legislators. The toll-free hotline is 1-800-562-6000.
Working together we can
create positive changes to give dedicated community corrections officers
and law enforcement the tools they need to protect our families.
It’s time to move in the right direction with common-sense changes to
our laws next month. These changes will begin the discussion on
additional measures we must take to ensure public safety when we convene
for the regular session in January.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Rep.
Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, serves as the lead Republican on the House
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee.
For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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