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Results for sex offenders (california)

2 results found

Author: California State Auditor. Bureau of State Audits

Title: Sex Offender Commitment Program: Streamlining the Process for Identifying Potential Sexually Violent Predators Would Reduce Unnecessary or Duplicative Work

Summary: This report concludes that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Corrections) and the Department of Mental Health’s (Mental Health) processes for identifying and evaluating sexually violent predators (SVPs) are not as efficient as they could be and at times have resulted in the State performing unnecessary work. The current inefficiencies in the process for identifying and evaluating potential SVPs stems in part from Corrections’ interpretation of state law. These inefficiencies were compounded by recent changes made by voters through the passage of Jessica’s Law in 2006. Specifically, Jessica’s Law added more crimes to the list of sexually violent offenses and reduced the required number of victims to be considered for the SVP designation from two to one, and as a result many more offenders became potentially eligible for commitment. Additionally, Corrections refers all offenders convicted of specified criminal offenses enumerated in law but does not consider whether an offender committed a predatory offense or other factors that make the person likely to be an SVP, both of which are required by state law. As a result, the number of referrals Mental Health received dramatically increased from 1,850 in 2006 to 8,871 in 2007, the first full year Jessica’s Law was in effect. In addition, in 2008 and 2009 Corrections referred 7,338 and 6,765 offenders, respectively. However, despite the increased number of referrals it received, Mental Health recommended to the district attorneys or the county counsels responsible for handling SVP cases about the same number of offenders in 2009 as it did in 2005, before the voters passed Jessica’s Law. In addition, the courts ultimately committed only a small percentage of those offenders. Further, we noted that 45 percent of Corrections’ referrals involved offenders whom Mental Health previously screened or evaluated and had found not to meet SVP criteria. Corrections’ process did not consider the results of previous referrals or the nature of parole violations when re-referring offenders, which is allowable under the law. Our review also found that Mental Health primarily used contracted evaluators to perform its evaluations—which state law expressly permits through the end of 2011. Mental Health indicated that it has had difficulty attracting qualified evaluators to its employment and hopes to remedy the situation by establishing a new position with higher pay that is more competitive with the contractors. However, it has not kept the Legislature up to date regarding its efforts to hire staff to perform evaluations, as state law requires, nor has it reported the impact of Jessica’s Law on the program.

Details: Sacramento: California State Auditor, 2011. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Report 2010-116: Accessed March 30, 2012 at: http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2010-116.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: United States

URL: http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2010-116.pdf

Shelf Number: 124771

Keywords:
Sex Offenders (California)
Sexual Violence
Violent Offenders

Author: Turner, Susan

Title: Implementation and Outcomes for California’s GPS pilot for High Risk Sex Offender Parolees

Summary: In November 2006, California passed Proposition 83 mandating that all sex offenders be monitored by GPS for life. The law was passed without sufficient evidence regarding the effectiveness of GPS monitoring on sex offenders, and lacked a clear plan for how these new provisions would be implemented. This study provides a much needed test addressing the effectiveness of GPS monitoring for high risk sex offenders supervised in the community. Using data from a GPS pilot program in San Diego California in 2005, 94 high risk sex offenders monitored by GPS and 91 high risk sex offenders were followed for 18 months. The results showed that there were no significant differences between groups with respect to overall recidivism rates, although GPS offenders were less likely to abscond or fail to register as a sex offender. Additionally, we found that GPS offenders were less likely to be charged of committing a new crime, but more likely to violate a special condition of GPS supervision. Overall, GPS monitoring appeared to prevent parolees only from committing lower level offenses, which calls into question the utility of this particular supervision tool as a deterrent for the sex offender population.

Details: Irvine, CA: UC Irvine, Center for Evidence-Based Corrections, 2010. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed January 29, 2013 at: http://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/sites/ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/files/HRSO%20GPS%20Pilot%20Working%20Paper.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: United States

URL: http://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/sites/ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/files/HRSO%20GPS%20Pilot%20Working%20Paper.pdf

Shelf Number: 127423

Keywords:
GPS (Global Positioning Systems)
Offender Monitoring
Offender Supervision
Parolees
Sex Offenders (California)