CALL TO ACTION: Stop Volusia County Council from expanding residency restrictions
Major Concerns:
- According to the Daytona Times, the Volusia County Council could be proposing at its June 20 meeting at 4 pm an ordinance to be drafted that would expand the residency distance requirements in the unincorporated parts of the county beyond the state’s 1,000 feet from any school, child care facility, park or playground.
- The Council could also consider having an ordinance drafted that would ban adults unaccompanied by a child from county playgrounds.
PLEASE Do the Following:
- Email the Volusia County Council members to let them know that you:
(1) SUPPORT the banning of ALL adults from county playgrounds if not accompanied by an child;
(2) OPPOSE the expansion of the residency restrictions beyond the state’s 1000 ft. - Contact the council members before 4 pm Monday, June 19, which is the deadline to have your comments counted and become part of the public record. Submissions mush include the person’s name, residential city, and agenda item subject OR (Include either the agenda item being “the discussion of sex offender/predator residency distance requirements and playground regulations” OR “Item 18”).
- Ask family members and friends to also contact the council members to OPPOSE expanding the state’s 1000-ft residency restrictions.
Talking Points:
- If you live in Florida but not Volusia County, you could mention that you are opposed to increasing the residency restrictions as you do not want to see such a punitive measure spread to your county.
- If you do not live in Florida, you could mention that you feel extremely uncomfortable traveling to a state that passes laws not based on empirically validated research.
- ALL research shows that residency restrictions have had no effect on sexual recidivism.
- The sexual recidivism rate for people with a past sex offense is lower than that for all other offenses, with the exception of murder.
- When threatened with legal challenges, Gainesville and Palm Beach County rolled back their 2500-foot residency restrictions back to the state’s 1000 ft, and there has not been an increase in sex offenses because of the rollback.
- You support the banning of ALL adults (and not just people on the registry) from county playgrounds who are unaccompanied by children as research shows that over 90% of FUTURE sex crimes against children will be committed by people NOT on the sex offender registry. Just targeting people with a past sex offense will not prevent the other 90+% of sex crimes from happening.
- In 93% of sex offenses committed against minors, the child knows the perpetrator (family member, school staff, neighbor, coaching staff, church staff, etc.), debunking the myth of “stranger danger.”
- Increasing the residency restrictions increases the homeless population. Research shows that being homeless makes it more difficult for people released from prison to reintegrate back into society successfully as law-abiding citizens.
- There are hundreds of people in Volusia County with a past sex offense who are not sexually re-offending and never will. Why is Volusia County wanting to punish these people?
Contact Information for Volusia County Council Members:
Jeff Brower, County Chair – jbrower@volusia.org
Jake Johansson, At-large – jjohansson@volusia.org
Don Dempsey, District 1 – ddempsey@volusia.org
Matt Reinhart, District 2 – mreinhart@volusia.org
Danny Robins, District 3 – drobins@volusia.org
Troy Kent, District 4 – tkent@volusia.org
David Santiago, District 5 – dsantiago@volusia.org
Some of the research showing residency restrictions are ineffective:
- https://www.ci.new-prague.mn.us/vertical/sites/%7BAD7ECB62-2C5E-4BA0-8F19-1426026AFA3E%7D/uploads/MnATSA-Residency-Restrictions-2016.pdf
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304990286_Grand_Challenges_Social_Justice_and_the_Need_for_Evidence-based_Sex_Offender_Registry_Reform
- https://www.doc.ks.gov/publications/CFS/sex-offender-housing-restrictions
- https://www.dpscs.state.md.us/onlineservs/sor/frequently_asked_questions.shtml Read the answer to question 15.
- http://www.icjia.state.il.us/assets/articles/SOTF_report_final_12292017.pdf
- https://mnatsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/MnATSA-Residency-Restrictions-Feb-2019-Revised.pdf
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011128712449230
- https://www.mecasa.org/uploads/1/0/1/7/101776612/sex_offender_registration_law_commission_report_2008.pdf Pages 18-19
- https://all4consolaws.org/2022/03/ali-council-approves-most-of-model-penal-code/
Some of the research showing most future sex crimes are committed by people NOT on the registry:
- Evidence-Based Recidivism Meta-Analysis Study 2021.pdf (working link to come)
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820068/:
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232505213_Does_a_Watched_Pot_Boil_A_Time-Series_Analysis_of_New_York_State’s_Sex_Offender_Registration_and_Notification_Law
- https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2018/aug/17/why-sex-offender-registries-keep-growing-even-sexual-violence-rates-fall/
- https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/rethinking-sex-offender-registries
Some of the research showing that minors know their perpetrators approximately 93% of the time, i.e., they are not strangers:
- https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/nibrs/reports/sarble/sarble19
- https://socialmiami.com/senator-lauren-book-masks-do-not-increase-kidnapping-risk-for-children/
- Evidence-Based Recidivism Meta-Analysis Study 2021.pdf (working link to come)
A few typos. “Email the Volusia County Council members to let them know that you:
(1) SUPPORT the banning of ALL adults from county playgrounds if not accompanied by an adult;” and in the title, Volusia is misspelled.
Recognition goes to member Eugene V Debs for catching this in time for FAC to take swift action.
I was just googling news articles and noticed it.
Are they proposing a retroactive application of the ordinance. Making someone move from their home after already being allowed to is ripe for a punishment ruling. When I got approved where I lived on probation, they later made the 1000 feet rule but I did not have to move.
They would have to physically drag me out of my house, since I was and am in compliance, be damn any retroactive laws.
Jack, I thought the 1000 rule only applies after 2014. I am right on that. I moved into my house 2003 while on Probation so I had the 1000 ft rule due to that but I think we are good now? I am pre-96
Opps I meant 2004 for the 1000 ft law
This subsection applies to any person convicted of a violation of s. 794.011, s. 800.04, s. 827.071, s. 847.0135(5), or s. 847.0145 for offenses that occur on or after October 1, 2004, excluding persons who have been removed from the requirement to register as a sexual offender or sexual predator pursuant to s. 943.04354.
Is it actually normal for them to sit around at these meetings – while hand-wringing – bringing up this topic: “What can we do with the ‘sex offender’ situation today?”
Are they really that willfully ignorant?
@Facts
Meanwhile in Gotham
Stores are being robbed, People are being shot. Home invasions are out of control, shoplifters are stealing everything, making prices rise, Cars are driving 50 mph over the speed limit, drunk drivers are everywhere, drive by shootings and school shootings are at an all time high.
Having said that, law enforcement all across the U.S is seeing an unheard of officer resignations. But instead of using the resources they have to curb violent crimes, some departments have entire squads of Sex offender compliance officers/deputies.
LOL! 🤣 Thank you, FSM! I love that mental image! Knitting set aside. Quilting bee adjourned. Handwringing pensioners obsessed with stranger danger! 🤣🤣🤣
Why would I support banning all adults from county playgrounds if they are not with a child? Many people may be an adult by age, but not by mental ability. And unless they are speaking specifically to being within the circle of swings and not the whole park, I would never get behind this. And even then I still don’t think I would for what I noted about disabilities. It is doing the same thing that is done to us. Guilty first. You must have bad intentions and so forth. Saying that an adult should not be in a park without a child is just another fear tactic. So it is a no for me on that. I will just not even mention it.
I believe they are referring to the playground area only. I agree adults have no reason to be in the playground unless they are with Family members kids or their kids. Has nothing to do with SO’s at all. My question would be why are you there? I could get behind that. The 1000 foot rule I believe only applies if the offence day was after 2014 any thing other than should be ripe for a challenge.
@Tearfuleagle
So, when I turned 18 and as a taxpayer, I am to be restricted from enjoying those things my tax dollars pay for in creating and maintaining, e.g., playground equipment, on my own without a minor? Are you saying I cannot go and enjoy the swings or maybe a merry-go-round like many other adults do on their own to relive their childhood moments or just enjoy them at the moment with another adult or solo? Are you saying they have to do that from afar? I don’t think so. You may ban yourself from enjoying them, but any taxpaying adult who wants to enjoy them should be able to regardless. Maybe their should be an adult only section of a park with similar playground enjoyment which minors are banned from.
I am in no way saying you shouldnt enjoy your life. I believe that even under the weight of the Registry you should enjoy your life. But I also believe that the majority of visitors to playgrounds are under the age of 12 maybe 15. I feel the only way to chip away at this ever burdensome witchhunt on registrants is to find common ground where it exist. In this case we have two things: 1. the 1000 foot expansion and 2. Any adult at a playground without an accompanying minor ban. Which one is more burdensome to us? I think if we polled all 28,000 (Approx), the true number of registrants in the general population of Florida, the Strong Majority would rather have the 1000 foot rule abolished and keep the Playground ban.
No one is stopping you from going to the park. Walk the nature trail, grab a fishing pole, bike the trail etc. Enjoy your life. Is the “adult ban on playground” really this hill to die on? Not for me.
@ tearfuleagle….with all due respect…
I am here because my 66 year brother things he is 8 and he likes to swing.
I am here because my dad died and I remember how every Sunday he took me to the park and we would swing and have a snack under the tree and I would have all his attention.
I am here because my nephew turned 5 and his 10 screaming friends are under that pavilion across the field eating cake and I am taking a break and feeling the breeze and sun hit my face while I swing.
I am here because I suffer from depression and hearing kids and families living life around me boost my spirits.
I am here because I live next to a highway and I just want to hear what nature has to offer.
I am here because I underwent cancer treatment and the equipment I can use as tool to help me with my physical recovery.
I am here because me and my just graduated high school friends are having a blast in the park.
I am here because my grandma suffers from dementia and this brings back her memories.
I am here because I like to work out and I can’t afford a gym or maybe the gym is closed.
I am here because my husband I were walking by after dinner out and thought it would be fun to sit on a teeter-totter. It seemed to go off the ground so much higher when I was young.
I am here because I can be, just like anyone else. Just like all the kids caretakers should be.
So if I understand you correctly other than maybe you and your husband hoping on a teeter-totter, which I hate mainly because I had mean friends growing up who would get off and leave me crashing to the ground, and memories with your father who I totally get, My mom passed in Jan. Everything else you mentioned is either not in the playground area itself or you would be with family kids etc the later being ok. So as i mentioned above if you only get one, would you rather be able to go to the Playground or live whereever you want?
@tearfuleagle
Then by all means, fly away to other areas of life to which you may adult while others who want to occasionally adult on a swing, merry-go-round, slide, or teeter totter enjoy them and the memories they may bring or create for that matter or even show the youngsters that still being playful like a child as an adult (or old person to them) can be fun when they don’t know what adulting is really like. In the end, neither restriction is worth a salt and should be done away with which are 2 hills you should be willing to die on.
And btw, you missed where the writer above had a 66 year old brother who thinks he is 8, which does not make him a physical minor though mentally it sounds like he is. Should they be restricted?
MP
And next they will expand it and say you cannot go into a dog park unless you own a dog? I sometimes go in and enjoy the dogs that run up to me with kisses. I had a lady saying I was in there to pick up women and stare at them and I should leave? Complex much?
Several months back I saw someone post on here saying they had been asked to leave their church because several people found out they were on the registry. Really, have we sunk so far in fear that someone cannot even attend a church of our faith? No wonder so many churches are empty these days.
@ Cherokee. Yep, dog park etc…. No stopping the continued down hill civil liberty abuses in the name of protection. They have got to keep stranger danger alive and this park bill does just that.
The court in a separate, unanimous decision held that the law applies to sex offenders aged 18 or younger when they committed their crimes and designated “youthful offenders,” even when it prevents them from attending school.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/ny-sex-offender-law-applies-broadly-retroactively-court-2023-06-15/
Isn’t this why we already have loitering law’s? I mean, why this particular need for a law, specifically banning people? It just shows the attitude of lawmaker’s, in regards to people who are on the registry.
Good morning. Did this pass?
The meeting is today at 4 pm, but the agenda says that item (item 18) is toward the end of the meeting.
Thank you. My apologies I thought it was yesterday.
I’m watching this now, for 4 hours so far. Wow these people love talking good about themselves. I’ve heard some good talk, let’s see what they decide to do. Florida is quickly becoming unliveable.
https://www.youtube.com/live/ewvechkkgL4?feature=share
It’s starts at the 9hr 51 minute and 50 seconds
So one guy “Don” is trying to educate his fellow board members it seems like. Well they postponed the ordinance increase until more information is provided. Imagine that waiting to pass as law until backed by research. Although I fear they will give in to peer pressure.
Has a kid ever been snatch at a playground? I imagine it’s around the same amount that get abducted on Halloween. They even refer to 2,500 feet in his mind as punishment but why won’t the courts.
Yes I watched it all live. Holy moly things move slow. I did appreciate that at least the council member Don spoke up. He is the exact reason I never say things like, all are bad. For those that don’t care to watch it. He was an attorney for 33 years I think he said, prosecutor and defender. He was fair with his reasoning, and brave in the face of his peers. He even said a few times that “it’s politically correct to just keep piling on restrictions, but these people are going to prison not for the crime but for these other restrictions. Living too close to something, not registering a car, etc.” I don’t know if he is just like that or he actually listened to some people that reached out to him. But one the other side, you did get the typical I will just sign off on anything against those people. Even though they are going to look at this again, I think it was a win for now
I was actually somewhat encouraged by not just what Don Dempsey had to say but what a couple of the others had to say, at least in terms of being rational and fact based in the approach. I’m going to send Don a thank you email.
Don Dempsey, District 1 – ddempsey@volusia.org
@Eugene
The entire thing is absurd anyway. Let us say someone was Hell bent on grabbing a kid. Would they pace off 2500 feet and hide behind a tree at the 2501 mark and grab their prey?
It is the same with school shootings. They make all these laws, rules, ordinances etc. and school shootings actually got worse.
My point is the registry and all its’ rules and restrictions is not going to stop someone who has the mindset to grab a kid. I am pretty sure that most of the people on the registry who had an underaged victim, were not hiding behind a tree or handing out candy at the corner store. There have only been a few John Wayne Gacy’s in modern history and challenge the court to name one other, other than maybe Jeffery Dhamer.