florida's sex offenders

"The other question I had was the aspect of offenders who freely migrate to Florida (especially in winter months) who end up transient."

The best people to talk to on this would be probation and parole specialists who supervise sex offenders, homeless sex offenders, prison release cases and career offenders. Don't talk to anyone in Tallahassee or in an administrative position or you'll get an answer like it was read from a policy; which it would be. Specialists work daily supervising sex offenders and have to keep up with the city residency restrictions, registration, driver's license/identification requirements, etc of these offenders. Florida is a haven because of the weather. 80 degrees 9 months a year or living in a foot of snow for 5 months? Plus down here, there is esay access to pain clinics for pills. If you have cash and a back or neck, you can score enough Oxy to kill a horse.

[DC Consultant (Ret)]

I'll take my lumps with this statement. Most anyone I every met who was a Sex Offender Officer did not become that because they thought they could make a difference! Remember, 25 years ago before Specialist we all supervised Sex Offenders. In DC it is a Promotional Opportunity with a RAISE. CPO, SENIOR OFFICER, SPECIALIST and after 20 years making under $40,000. There is so little opportunity to make a buck when the position is offered you go for it whether you are qualified or not which raises the question. What makes a good Sex Offender Officer? One answer I heard repeatedly from a Senior Sup was, "One that keeps Circuit off my back." The Col. is right you need to ask a Sex Offender Officer but I think your going to get 1001 answers because most are there for all the wrong reasons and that 5% or 7% raise did not cover the real responsibility.

[Valigator]

Thanks I have had a couple of conversations with GREAT parole officers and with miserable ones. I understand about the Promotional aspects of any public service job. One woman who worked in city hall once told me something I always try and remember. She said " you have an awful lot of good people trying to work in a bad system. Its the "system" I want to try and understand and try and make enough noise to see if it can be fixed or at least addressed when dealing with this issue. You guys are great and I do appreciate your input.

Here is my 2 cents. I think that your question is not accurate enough, or that you are misunderstanding the situation. For a person who is actually being supervised on probation, parole, etc. they must submit a plan (address, form of support, etc.) before FL accepts their supervision from another state. However, if somebody is just a sex offender, not actively on any type of supervision, then they are free to move to FL, be homeless, etc. as long as they register with the sheriff's office of the county that they live in. At that point they are the responsibility of the sheriff of their county of residence, and not under the jurisdiction of the FDOC. The only other thing is if someone is a resident of the state of FL, and they go commit a sex crime in another state, then they automatically can transfer back to FL, and could end up homeless. (Note: I am an officer but not a specialist, so there could be a technicality I am not aware of)

Here is my 2 cents. I think that your question is not accurate enough, or that you are misunderstanding the situation. For a person who is actually being supervised on probation, parole, etc. they must submit a plan (address, form of support, etc.) before FL accepts their supervision from another state. However, if somebody is just a sex offender, not actively on any type of supervision, then they are free to move to FL, be homeless, etc. as long as they register with the sheriff's office of the county that they live in. At that point they are the responsibility of the sheriff of their county of residence, and not under the jurisdiction of the FDOC. The only other thing is if someone is a resident of the state of FL, and they go commit a sex crime in another state, then they automatically can transfer back to FL, and could end up homeless. (Note: I am an officer but not a specialist, so there could be a technicality I am not aware of)

Pretty good answer, but there are a few more things. Offense date, SORR, drive through of area. I would say in the Tampa area most sex offenders in other states do not qualify for transfer (offenders on actual supervision). you need to be very cautious when accepting out of state offenders, because if your wrong FDOC will hang you out to dry.

[Valigator]

I was under the impression the ball was dropped somewhere along accepting transfers in, only from observation due to the sheer amount of offenders Florida has. I have read over and over about the "plan" aspect and then on the flyer one does have a tendency to notice transient with "out of state" or Federal under jurisdiction. From an outsider looking in it appears Florida takes in more offenders than it transfers out. Oh and I was curious about the Hotels/motels housing offenders. We have a budget inn not far from my neighborhood and this place and the surrounding area/business's becomes a "pit from hell" after dark. The drugs, the hookers (many appear to be underage) are a real plight. I find it amazing that an establishment that accommadates tourist has no protocol to alert patrons that they are housing some real superfreaks. I cant imagine checking into one of these places bone tired at 2 am and sending my kid down for ice.

I was under the impression the ball was dropped somewhere along accepting transfers in, only from observation due to the sheer amount of offenders Florida has. I have read over and over about the "plan" aspect and then on the flyer one does have a tendency to notice transient with "out of state" or Federal under jurisdiction. From an outsider looking in it appears Florida takes in more offenders than it transfers out. Oh and I was curious about the Hotels/motels housing offenders. We have a budget inn not far from my neighborhood and this place and the surrounding area/business's becomes a "pit from hell" after dark. The drugs, the hookers (many appear to be underage) are a real plight. I find it amazing that an establishment that accommadates tourist has no protocol to alert patrons that they are housing some real superfreaks. I cant imagine checking into one of these places bone tired at 2 am and sending my kid down for ice.

Florida has a huge problem with sex offender absconders moving here to try and hide out but many are getting arrested now when they can find them. Florida also has a huge problem with ones not on supervision moving here and then not registering.

[Valigator]

Would you happen to have any suggestions to try and curb that or are we reaching for the stars?

Would you happen to have any suggestions to try and curb that or are we reaching for the stars?

You take Florida and put it where Maine is then move Maine to where Florida is. Then you will have more Sex Offenders moving to Maine than Florida. You can't stop the natural flow of things but you can use your resources to the best of your ability. Now, that is what cheap azz Florida has never done. In my county the SO Sex Offender Unit is housed with Children and Fams. Child Protection Unit. Rarely do they communicate with DC unless the poo has already hit the fan. With the way the Legislature treats Probation being a part of the Prisons its lucky it hasn't been privatized yet.

[Valigator]

And round and round we go, which takes us full circle again back to residency restrictions. It appears Florida has some of the most restrictive residency restrictions which in "premise" is suppose to make Florida less enviting for offenders wanting to come in, that being said, like clockwork every year the "homeless aspect rears its ugly head" and then the "practice" of abolishing those same restrictions is proposed. Quite frankly I get more than agitated when that proposal comes up. I assume the practice of housing these worthless examples of DNA in hotels/motels comes into play because it appears "Florida" doesnt like the negative headlines on Homeless Offenders. There was a high profile case a couple of years ago of a Gary Douglas Kerpan, a child killer out of Ill. who made headlines living in Stranahan Park in Fort Lauderdale. To this day I cant wrap my head around him being financed in an apartment in Lauderdale. One must ponder how many "Kerpans" are in Florida?