The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is teaming up with Family Watchdog by aiming to ensure a safe and happy Halloween for youngsters statewide this October.
State Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch announced Tuesday that the DOC’s sex offender registry site will offer a link to Family Watchdog, a national sex offender registry site.
Family Watchdog allows a person to find out where local registered sex offenders reside by searching with an address or the whole city area.
With the passing of the Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Law in 1997, the state’s sex offender registry was created to give the public as well as the police access to information for the purpose of enhancing public safety.
This link will be taken down after Halloween, but according to Melissa Roberts, the DOC’s director of sex offender programs, the DOC is developing a long-term mapping option.
“What we’re working on with Family Watchdog is a direct data feed on a daily basis,” Roberts said. “We’re working on a partnership to provide … direct links from each center’s page to our current map. It will include the option for users to sign up for e-mail notification.”
Roberts added the DOC and Family Watchdog are very close to finishing their work.
While safety is definitely important during Halloween, Roberts said measures should definitely be taken year-round to protect families.
“Halloween is certainly a highlighted time of year, but we have to be vigilant as parents and individuals who care for our children every day of the year,” Roberts said.
By law, sex offenders are prohibited from partaking in Halloween festivities, including handing out candy and putting up decorations.
The state of Wisconsin has a 90 percent compliance rate for registering sex offenders, which is higher than the national average of 70 percent. Roberts attributed this success to Gov. Jim Doyle’s Sex Offender Apprehension and Felony Enforcement (SAFE) initiative.
“Since Gov. Doyle created the SAFE initiative, we’ve gone from 82 percent compliance rate to 90 percent compliance rate,” Roberts said.
The SAFE initiative also improved public awareness by allowing the DOC to display the current addresses of registered sex offenders in the community.
“We have made a great deal of progress in tracking down sex offenders so that parents, grandparents and neighbors know where these offenders are and can help keep children safe,” Doyle said in a statement. “Our efforts in Wisconsin make us a national leader in strategies to hold sex offenders accountable, but we must continue to do everything we can to keep our communities safe and secure from dangerous offenders.”
For anyone taking children out on Halloween, the DOC is offering informational publications about safety measures.
The DOC also asks that if anyone sees a sex offender partaking in Halloween or knows of one who has not registered to either call the SAFE tip line or notify the DOC by e-mail.