Sunday, November 20, 2005

Sex Offender Update

I retired from the Louisiana Division of Probation and Parole in 2000. They, along with the various Sheriffs and the Louisiana State Police, are required by law to track the residence of known sex offenders and keep the public informed.

During the Katrina/Rita festivities, I happened to speak to a member of the Alexandria office and he told me frankly that there were a bunch (read hundreds) of sex offenders that left New Orleans in the evacuation, and he thought that there were a significant number that left Southwest Louisiana during Rita.

I don't doubt it.

The agents of the Division of Probation and Parole are some of the finest cops you will find anywhere. Regardless of their own safety they track known violent offenders and monitor compliance with court order and orders from the various Boards that release prisoners.

A street cop deals with 99% law abiding citizens. A Parole officer deals with 90% known felons. My last ten years with that agency I arrested hundreds of offenders, and never made a misdemeanor arrest. They were all felony busts. During the last 12 years I carried three parole officers to their graves. Two had been murdered.

Tracking sex offenders is a pain in the ass. A high stress job with no hope of success. The work is never done, and when a local agency calls at 3:00 a.m., you put on your pants, stap on a gun, and go. Kiss your wife before you leave the house, and look in on the kids. You may never see them again.

Anyway, the Division has made available a list of known registered sex offenders that they cannot account for. The list is here. Go view it. All the links are clickable and give you a picture and quick background on the offender.

If you happen to see any of these offenders, contact your local police department and lead them to these links. These folks are dangerous to your community. They may be armed. Do not try to apprehend them yourself. Call the police.

These people are convicted sex offenders. Warrants have been requested because they are not in compliance with Louisiana Law. They have not registered their address and they might be living in your community. If you see one of these offenders, call the police.

2 comments:

Xavier said...

Thank you for the link Paw Paw. I don't know how to do a proper track back thingy, so I'm just going to do a similar post a bit later. Many many thanks.

Our sheriff is STILL trying to get the Red Cross to release names of evacuees they sheltered in our area. The Red Cross refuses citing confidentiality. It's a disgrace. As a result, our community has refused to assist the Red Cross in sheltering anyone in our area.

Rachel said...

Thanks for bringing this to people's attention! I sure hope none of them came up in my direction! You just never know though.