NCJ Number
186502
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: 2000 Pages: 125-139
Editor(s)
J. Mitchell Miller
Date Published
2000
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Within the last decade, Federal and State legislation has been enacted that requires notification be sent to local and county jurisdictions where high risk sex offenders will be living after release from prison.
Abstract
In turn, police and sheriff departments have been given primary responsibility for notifying community residents that convicted sex offenders will be living in their communities. One method adopted by law enforcement in dealing with this difficult task has been the interagency team approach. Police, corrections, district attorneys, and victim-witness representatives collaborate in ways that benefit the notification decision-making process. The current case study presents the findings of a statewide survey of 312 Wisconsin police chiefs and sheriffs who often used interagency notification teams. It was found decisions about community notification and sex offender surveillance served important law enforcement objectives when arrived at through interagency collaboration. This finding was validated through systematic observation of law enforcement practitioners who conducted community notifications, particularly through the mode of community notification meetings. Policy implications of the case study findings are discussed. 13 references, 10 endnotes, and 4 tables