Depending upon their offense, criminals convicted of sex crimes are designated as sexual offenders or predators. Under the Public Safety Information Act their names, addresses and photographs are made available to the general public. For years, BSO's website has featured a link to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's (FDLE's) database where offender and predator information is available. Now, in the greater interest of public safety, we have expanded this Internet resource to be more user friendly.
BSO's Sex Offender Locator will allow you to find offenders or predators who live near you, or near any school, park, library or child care facility that you designate. One unique and special feature about our system is that it will actually generate a map on your computer screen with color-coded indicators pinpointing the offenders' and predators' home addresses. By pointing and clicking on those indicators you can instantly bring up FDLE's fact sheet with the offender's name, photograph, address, offense, and other information.
Before activating the new system we wanted to test and fine-tune it to make it as useful and easy-to-use as possible. Two focus groups, comprised of a broad cross-section of residents ranging from soccer moms to retirees, tested BSO's Locator and made some valuable suggestions – many of which were incorporated into the design.
Because this information is important to the residents of Broward County, we expanded the information to include offenders throughout Broward, not just the areas patrolled by the Broward Sheriff's Office. This is a tool that will aid the public and the police.
These old axioms may be clichés, but it is true that “knowledge is power,” and “forewarned is forearmed.” With that in mind, the information from the Locator can be printed out or emailed to other people that you know. Of course, with power comes responsibility. Bear in mind that offenders and predators listed in this database are NOT wanted persons. They have been charged and convicted in the past and some may still be on probation or parole. To reduce the likelihood that they will offend again, it is important that they not have improper contact with children or other victims. If you have reason to believe that a sexual offender or predator is having illegal contact, notify the Broward Sheriff's Office or your city police department immediately. Whatever you do, do not confront the individual.
I hope that you will visit www.sheriff.org and explore the capabilities of the Sex Offender Locator. Let us know what you think of the system by clicking on the “contact us” tab in the left-hand column.
Crime prevention is something that we must work together to achieve.