By HAILEY HEINZ
Albuquerque Journal
BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. — Dana Kouri and Wayne Santos have an unusual pastime: keeping tabs on sex offenders.
Kouri and Santos are reserve deputies for the Sex Offender Registration and Tracking Unit of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department. The unit is staffed by reserve deputies, who work for free part time but have the same training and authority as regular officers.
Their job is to check in on registered sex offenders.
They drive around and knock on doors, making sure offenders still live at their registered addresses. They look for signs of drugs or other trouble and make sure offenders seem stable. In most cases, it’s a simple knock on the door and an ID check.
Santos said although offenders don’t relish visits from officers with “Sex Offender Unit” emblazoned on their shirts, most are agreeable to the process.
As for those who don’t like it?
Tough.
At least that’s the message from Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White.
“A knock on the door pales in comparison to what their victims went through,” White said.
Kouri, Santos and other reservists have been doing these sweeps for about two years. White estimates the unit has conducted several thousand verifications and has saved the city hundreds of thousands of dollars because their labor is free.
Without the reserve SORT units, White said, the department could not monitor sex offenders as closely as it does. More than 1,000 offenders are registered in the county, he said.
SORT units conduct two to four sweeps each month, with six to eight teams per sweep, said Kouri, the reserve division recruiting coordinator.
Some offenders are checked more often than others, depending on the severity of their crime.
Kouri is the founder and organizer of the SORT unit. He said keeping track of sex offenders is a vital service, and he enjoys doing it.
“When you have children, this sex-offender program is real important,” said Kouri, who has four kids. “To steal a child’s innocence, there’s just no excuse for it.”
A sweep of northeast Albuquerque was uneventful last Wednesday. Most offenders were home, willingly provided IDs and answered deputies’ questions.
Those who weren’t home were left a notice with instructions to call the sheriff’s department and verify they are still living at the same address.
Santos said although offenders are usually cooperative, the sweeps help remind them the county is keeping an eye on them.
“We’re here to show we’re going to continue to check on them and make sure they don’t do it again,” he said. “We keep a pretty tight noose on them.” In New Mexico, sex offenders are required to register if they were convicted after July 1, 1995, or were then on parole or in prison. Only those who have committed the most severe offenses, like sex crimes involving children, are posted on the state’s online registry at . SORT verifications, however, include checks on all registered offenders. The frequency of the visits depends on the severity of the offense. “This is important,” White said. “It lets these guys know we’re watching.”
www.nmsexoffender.dps.state.nm.us
Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal