"As lawmakers, it is our primary responsibility to ensure the safety of our citizens. Adding New York State's information to the National Sex Offender Registry is an important step forward, but what we critically need is legislation that will expand the information available to parents and concerned citizens," Governor Pataki said. "Again, I urge the Assembly Majority to pass our legislation, which would strengthen the State's Megan's Law and expand the information available on the Internet to include all registered sex offenders."
The Governor's legislation would not only expand the information available to the public by having all offenders, regardless of level, listed on the Internet, but the proposed bill would require all convicted sex offenders to register with DCJS for life. Currently, certain sex offenders only have to register for a period of ten years. If the Assembly Majority continues to block a vote on and the law remains unchanged, approximately 3,300 Level 1 and Level 2 offenders will be removed from the Registry in 2006 beginning in January.
The Governor noted that measures to expand and strengthen Megan's Law passed the State Senate this year in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion, 60-1. And, proposed legislation that would allow for civil commitment of sexual predators has passed the Senate since 1998, with the vote this past session totaling 58-2 in favor.
Director of New York State Criminal Justice Services Chauncey Parker said, "With our inclusion into the National Sex Offender Registry, New York State is once again implementing a critical criminal justice initiative that will make the citizens of this state safer tomorrow than they are today. Although this is a tremendous step forward, there is still much more that can be done. Until the Assembly Majority passes Governor Pataki's proposal to list information on all sex offenders on the Internet, parents in New York State, and across the country, will not have all of the information they need to make the best decisions about their families' safety."
The NSOPRprovides an opportunity for all states and territories to participate in an unprecedented public safety resource by sharing comprehensive public sex offender data with citizens nationwide, free of charge. With a single query from any
web-capable computer, NSOPR searches public, state and territory sex offender registries to deliver matched results based on a name, state, county, city/town or zip code.
With more than 500,000 registered sex offenders nationwide, access to public registry information nationwide is essential for citizens to help identify sex offenders beyond their own streets or neighborhoods. Under the Governor's direction, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services has been working with the Department of Justice since August 2005 to identify the sex offender data requirements and data transfer standards to participate in the NSOPR.
Governor Pataki has repeatedly called for comprehensive measures to strengthen Megan's Law and protect communities from violent sexual predators, including establishing lifetime registration on the New York State Sex Offender Registry for all registered sex offenders; expanding the information available on the Internet to include all registered sex offenders; and mandating that law enforcement officials disseminate information regarding sex offenders to community entities with vulnerable populations.
The Governor has also repeatedly called for the establishment of a civil commitment statute that would provide for the custody and care of certain violent sex offenders until such time as they no longer pose an immediate threat to public safety by reason of the mental abnormalities, which drive them to commit such crimes. Despite strong bi-partisan support, the Assembly leadership has refused to allow either of these bills to come before the chamber for an up or down vote.
Last month, the Governor directed that every sexually violent predator (SVP) in State custody be evaluated for involuntary civil commitment before being released from prison. He directed the Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) to push the envelope of the State's existing involuntary commitment law because he couldn't wait any longer for the Assembly Leadership to bring his legislation to the floor for a vote.
NEW YORK'S MEGAN'S LAW
Effective in 1996, and expanded in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004, New York State's Sex Offender Registration Act requires registration as a sex offender upon a conviction of a listed offense or a conviction for an attempt to commit a listed offense. There are currently over 40 registerable offenses in New York State.
The Sex Offender Registration Act has four distinct procedures for community notification. First, local law enforcement agencies are notified whenever a sex offender moves into their jurisdiction and may, in turn, notify the community as allowed by the Act. Additionally, DCJS maintains official information on the highest risk, Level 3, sex offenders on its website. DCJS also maintains a Sex Offender Registry Information Line (1-800-262-3257) and produces a Subdirectory of Level 3 Sex Offenders, which is maintained at local police agencies.
There are more than 22,000 convicted sex offenders listed on the Registry. And although information regarding Level 3 offenders can be found on the Internet and local police agencies, local law enforcement can release information pertaining to Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders to vulnerable entities. New Yorkers can only obtain information regarding Level 1 sex offenders by calling the Sex Offender Registry Information line, (800) 262-3257. A caller to the information line must provide one of four identifiers for the individual they are inquiring about: drivers license number, social security number, and date of birth or exact address. After providing this information, New Yorkers are able to verify if an individual is a sex offender.
If the individual inquired about is a Level 1 sex offender, the operator can verify that the named person is listed on the Registry. If the offender is a Level 2 sex offender, the caller is given a variety of information about the offense and the offender's approximate address based on the offender's zip code. In the case of a Level 3 sex offender, the caller is given all of the information provided for on the Internet including the offender's exact address. To access information about the State's Sex Offender Registry, visit the DCJS website at www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us.
In his 2005 State of the State Address, the governor reaffirmed his goal for New York to become the safest state in the nation. New York State is already the safest large state in America. The governor has created tough, but common sense administrative and legislative anti-crime initiatives such as this proposal to strengthen Megan's Law, in order to reduce crime and make New York an even safer state.
For more than a decade, New York State has experienced an unprecedented reduction in crime. Over the past eleven years, violent crime in New York State has been cut in half and crime is at its lowest levels since statewide crime reporting began nearly 40 years ago. In 1994, New York State was the sixth most violent state in the nation. Today, New York is the sixth safest stateoverall, and the safest large state in the country.
With an overall decline in crime of 45% since 1994, there have been more than 400,000 fewer crimes in 2004 than a decade earlier -- a remarkable statistic that can only be attributed to New York's tough, but smart criminal justice polices and the tireless efforts of local law enforcement
