By The Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) -- Police here are cracking down on sex offenders who fail to register.
Detectives are actively seeking arrest warrants for absconders. They have also begun using Silent Witness to plaster photos of those who flaunt the law and solicit residents to call in anonymous tips for cash.
“They know what they’re required to do,” Detective Todd Hanley said. “We’re just not going to look the other way because they didn’t feel like doing it.”
Statewide, there are about 850 sex offender absconders. But the state Department of Public Safety, which is charged with maintaining Arizona’s sex offender database, is so overwhelmed that it takes two years to verify each of the 14,000 addresses in the database.
The department is left with little time to track down those who fail to register.
“Unless some new information comes to light, we really don’t tickle those files too often,” said Val Biebrich, supervisor of DPS’s sex offender compliance unit. “We don’t have the manpower to dedicate the resources.”
It’s not going to get better any time soon.
The state Legislature eliminated funding in July for DPS’s sex offender compliance unit, instead giving the agency authority to collect an annual fee from sex offenders to pay for the Web site, staff and operating costs. It’s too early to tell if that will generate enough money.
Local police are trying to pick up the slack, verifying addresses in their own cities and pursuing arrest warrants for absconders.
Phoenix is the only city using Silent Witness to offer cash rewards for turning in absconders, but Mesa police cut their number of absconders from 53 to 37 by stepping up enforcement in recent months. And Glendale has boosted the number of detectives tracking sex offenders from one to three.
Mesa police Lt. Doug Kline said the message to sex offenders is simple: “We track you,” and “If you don’t comply, you can count on us taking enforcement action.”