As state officials sort out the kinks on the Megan's Law Web site that went online Wednesday, there are 200 San Mateo County sex offenders petitioning to keep their names and faces from the peering eyes of cyberspace.
The petitioning sex offenders pose the lowest risk and have committed crimes like sexual battery or lewd acts. They are not chronic or violent offenders, said Bill Ahern, commander of the San Mateo County Sexual Assault Felony Task Force — or SAFE.
With the new Web site comes new rules on how to track the offenders. However, the most important thing about the Web site is that residents can identify their neighbors and help law enforcement keep tabs on moving sex offenders.
"The most important thing is making sure people are staying," Ahern said.
When sex offenders move without giving notice to authorities the SAFE task force must track them down. There are currently about 830 sex offenders in the county — about the same as last year. The number of sex offenders may never decrease because of the continuing flow of arrests and prison releases. However, the public could help law enforcement keep tabs on offenders if they report recognizable faces on the Web site, Ahern said.
The problem, however, may be accessing the site.
The site isn't able to handle the volume of people trying to visit each day. Visitors to the site are receiving busy messages instead of names and mug shots.
"I imagine once the hoopla subsides, it will work much better," Ahern said.
There is more legislation on the way that will lead to the adoption of the attorney general's Megan's Law database as the only acceptable sex offender list for law enforcement agencies. Some city police departments already post their own sex offender information. San Mateo County lists their highest risk offenders on its Web site and Belmont provide a map of the locations of all sex offenders in the city.
Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com
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