Megan’s Law Web database receives backing

Deepa Bharath

The Orange County district attorney and county law enforcement

departments, including Costa Mesa Police Department, announced their

support on Friday for an initiative to put the Megan’s Law sex

offender database on the Internet and to mandate tougher penalties

for offenders.

Megan’s Law, named after Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was

raped and killed by a child molester on parole who lived in her

neighborhood, makes available to the public the names of any

registered sex offenders in their neighborhood. The law was passed in

California in 1996.

The Project Kidsafe initiative, written by state Sen. Dennis

Hollingsworth, has the backing of prosecutors and police officers in

Orange County, said Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas during a news

conference Friday morning.

“What we are trying to do with this initiative is to catch

California up to 39 states that make it easier for citizens to stay

informed,” he said.

All those states put information about convicted sex offenders on

the Internet, said Rackauckas.

Currently, California residents must go to their respective police

departments and set up an appointment to view a compact disc issued

by the Department of Justice that has limited information about sex

offenders living in their neighborhoods.

In California, the Megan’s Law database has been accessed about

250,000 times in the past decade, Rackauckas said. Even if parents

took the time to make that appointment and head to the police

department, they find little information, he said.

“The sex offender is listed only by zip code, sometimes with photo

and a brief description of their level of risk to the community,”

Rackauckas said.

He gave the example of the New Jersey Police Department’s website,

which has had 1.4-million searches in the last two years.

By accessing this website, people can search for offenders by

location all the way to the street address, by name, vehicle license

plate number and physical attributes such as tattoos or piercing.

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, state Assemblyman Todd Spitzer

(R-Orange) and state Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) where also

among those who verbalized their support for the initiative at

Friday’s news conference.

The Newport Beach Police Department is also trying to get the

database on to its website, said Lt. John Klein.

“We’ve been looking into what we can and can’t put up on the

site,” he said. “We’re all for enhancing public safety by making

information available to the community.”

The proposed initiative, which Hollingsworth is trying to get on

the November ballot, also recommends closely monitoring the

whereabouts of sex offenders including tracking them with global

positioning systems and requiring them to renew their drivers license

annually to make sure they register with the local police department

as mandated by law. The deadline to get signatures to take the

initiative to a ballot is April 16.

The existing “honor system” for sex offender registration relies

on the offenders themselves to inform the police in the cities they

move into.

“It never works,” said Costa Mesa Police Lt. John FitzPatrick.

“There is no honor among thieves.”

This is “a very important piece of legislation,” he said.

“It’s going to benefit the community and the police department

because we’ll have additional eyes and ears to help us get these

offenders off the streets,” FitzPatrick said. “I believe everyone

should get a chance, but with criminals who repeatedly hurt people,

one chance is enough.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@ latimes.com.