Latest Sex offender Stories

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's homicide rate fell to 4.8 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents in 2010, its lowest level in four decades, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. Much of the decline was in the nation's largest cities, those with a population of one million or more, where the homicide rate dropped dramatically from 35.5 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents in 1991 to a low of 11.9 per 100,000 in 2008. The sharp increase in...

******Publication Advisory****** WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released Crime Against People with Disabilities, 2008-2010 - Statistical Tables. This report presents estimates of nonfatal violent victimization (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault) against persons age 12 or older with disabilities, from 2008 to 2010. Findings are based on the National Crime Victimization Survey...

Police used or threatened to use force in less than two percent of contacts WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An estimated 40 million U.S. residents age 16 or older, or about 17 percent of the population, had a face-to-face contact with a police officer in 2008, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. This is a continuing decrease in contact between police and the public, down from 19 percent of residents who had contact with the police in 2005 and 21...

New interactive data tool allows users to analyze 30-year arrest trends WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. murder arrest rate dropped more than 50 percent over a 30-year period, from 8.8 arrests per 100,000 U.S. residents in 1980 to 4.0 per 100,000 in 2009, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Arrest rates for forcible rape, robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and weapon law violations also decreased significantly over the...

Two studies in the latest issue of the Journal of Law and Economics cast doubt on whether sex offender registry and notification laws actually work as intended. One study, by J.J. Prescott of the University of Michigan and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia University, found that requiring sex offenders to register with police may significantly reduce the chances that they will re-offend. However the research also finds that making that same registry information available to the broader public may...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MyMatchChecker.com today issued the following statement regarding the expected Match.com status hearing scheduled for today at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time: Match.com is believed to be screening members through the federal, state and local Sex Offenders Registry but it's not enough because the vast majority -- up to 90 percent -- of sexual assault cases are plea-bargained and do not result in a mandate to register with the Sex Offenders...

The use of GPS technology to monitor sex offenders should be viewed as a tool rather than a control mechanism, a team of researchers at Sam Houston State University found in a recent study.In "Examining GPS Monitoring Alerts Triggered by Sex Offenders: The Divergence of Legislative Goals and Practical Applications in Community Corrections," Dr. Gaylene Armstrong and Beth Freeman examined the affects of a state law in Arizona that required the lifelong GPS monitoring of adult sex...

WASHINGTON, August 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- From 1993 to 2009, about nine percent of victims of serious violent crime?rape or other sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated assault?received direct assistance from a victim service agency, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Victim service agencies are publicly or privately funded organizations that provide victims with support and services to aid their physical and emotional recovery, offer protection from future...

LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida law enforcement agencies are using JusticeXchange to find registered sex offenders who have failed to keep them informed of their whereabouts through our secure, integrated database from states around the country. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office worked a case where an individual was arrested and released on misdemeanor charges. Investigators later determined the subject was a registered sex offender from Mississippi who was not in...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to improve campus safety and security for students and staff, visitors gaining access to Detroit Public Schools (DPS) are now background-checked through FAST-PASS®, SISCO's high-speed visitor management system. The system scans visitors' driver licenses and State ID cards and cross-checks the information with national sex-offender registries. Individuals who are identified as sex offenders will be denied entry to school...