Las Vegas police partner with smartphone app to show sex offenders in neighborhoods ahead of Halloween
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has partnered with an app that show residents where sex offenders live in their neighborhoods ahead of Halloween.
The free app called Offender Watch says on its website that it allows parents to “track your children, map offenders nearby, get alerts if your child is contacted or lingers near an offender’s residence, safety tips, and more.”
LVMPD partnered with the app so users can “view the locations of registered sex offenders’ home addresses within” the department’s jurisdiction.
What’s next, supplying neighbors with molotov cocktails to throw at our houses? All these new things are doing is causing mass hysteria. I almost never hear of a story where a registered person did anything other than a failure to registry technicality, that to anyone else would not even be a crime.
They are fomenting a new type of Krystalnacht.
It is, again, government-sponsored hatred.
Offender Watch has been profiting off the registry for years, including the Florida registry. A for-profit government contractor, Offender Watch actively promotes the registry’s purported benefits.
Is there an app where the potheads, drunks & junkies live? How about anyone charged with murder or accessory to a crime? This is freaking stupid!
Kathy
Supposedly in Florida there is a murderer registry, but it seems to not be public as far as I can tell.
Parents and kids can have the app ? So if a kid is looking for someone to extort or a house to vandalize they have all the info they need to make a credible accusation. And let’s not forget vigilantes got to make sure they have the info. It all needs to stop
Joker
That Is why I ALWAYS suggest regardless of if you can afford it or not, have security cameras that record and have sound. Our cameras have been used not only for accusations that were debunked, but also caught the kids who threw rocks at our house. Now those kids were told by the sheriff’s office if they are even caught on our street again they will be arrested.
The two deputies were actually awesome. They even came back down and let me know there would be no more problems from those two and I have never seen them since, even though I can see their house from my front window, on another street.
The kids denied it at first but I had let the deputies see the video before they went over there and one of them copied it on his phone. He said he gave them a chance to come clean and when they denied doing it, he handed his phone to the Mom to watch and she was pissed and embarassed.
Sadly I can no longer pay the bill on the camera but no one but me knows it is no longer active. Unless of course they read my comment and know who I am LOL
How many websites and apps do people think they need? Is it not enough that there’s a registry maintained by state police? All these other websites and apps are needed too?
Ridiculous.
They are lazy. They do not want to have to look it up, they want to have it handed to them on a platter. The registry does not always give alerts. Nextdoor and related sites do.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t find any Nevada law prohibiting PFR’s from handing out candy at Halloween.
This app, and it’s partnering with LVPD, obviously seeks to engage in the act of preventing people from trick or treating at various locations. Does anyone disagree that this is the goal of LVPD?
If yes, then read this…
Nevada law NRS 179B.290 states:
If there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group of persons has engaged in or is about to engage in any act or practice, or any pattern of acts or practices, which involves the use of information obtained from the community notification website and which violates any provision of this section, NRS 179B.250, 179B.270 or 179B.280, the Attorney General may file an action for injunctive relief in the appropriate district court to prevent the occurrence or continuance of that act or practice or pattern of acts or practices.
Well? Seems as though LVPD and offender watch are indeed using information to interfere with an activity that would otherwise be completely legal. Am I wrong in thinking this?
Bump
I think what you are saying could be true. Good points.
Yes, my friend, you are completely wrong on all fronts. Perhaps you’ve never been out on paper. I’m sure you can find the relative statutes. I had to place a “NO CANDY” sign. But hey, sue ’em, right? Also, you may want to bone up on Nevada’s Lifetime Supervision laws.
My PO was pretty annoyed that I wasn’t home a couple of times, but not because she wanted to do a check. She was annoyed because she has to chase down every SO on her roll and get them to sign a piece of paper!
BTW, no such thing as LVPD. There is a NLVPD. Fun Fact: LVMPD is a unique county-wide agency (except for NLV) run by the Clark County Sheriff.
Not sure where you are going with your last lawsuit there, it’s not illegal to reiterate public information. Good luck!
Stephen H
Yes it is called Compelled speech. One county in Florida already won on that basis with the Halloween signs. (Forgot which one as there are 1000s of posts on FAC)
Just depends on the judge you get. Funny how one judge will say something is perfectly legally and an appeals judge will say it is not. Did they not both pass law school? I once saw an article that said “That is why they call it Practicing law, they have no idea what they are doing”. Also, mind you, judges hand down “opinions”. When have you ever heard a judge use the word “I am handing down the facts?”.
There are 67 counties in Florida and there are 67 different sets of rules, laws and ordinances for things, and yet we as citizens are supposed to know and obey everyone of them. And the courts cover their hind ends by stating “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. The law is basically saying what my good friend Willy Wonka use to say, “You get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!”
You bet your ass it’s compelled. That’s what happens when you’re serving a sentence.
The rest of your reply has nothing to do with my post. So, I guess my only other question is if you are really friends with Willy Wonka?
I think Willy Wonka’s relatives may be running the registry and the reward sure as heck is not candy on Halloween. It seems to be compliance checks. I have never been told I cannot hand out candy but I choose not to anyway for obvious reasons.
Mig
You should know by now the government, law enforcement, some judges and law makers are known for speaking out of both sides of their mouths. It is also known as double speak. One thing that brings Democrats and Republicans together is their hate for anyone with a sex offense. And that is regardless of if their charge was 40 years ago.
More ‘Public Grooming’ by law enforcement.
Invasion of privacy has just reached a new limit! If not stopped it continued to get worse. The Supreme Court is responsible for opening up this intrusion with absolutely no limits.
David
My main concern (Well there are lots of them) is there is not much we can do to protect ourselves. If 3 big guys come in with crow bars, I am screwed. I mean the law seems to basically give the wackos all the info they need to hunt us down. And yes, there are many stories of this happening. (But for some odd reason, we are supposed be comforted by the fact it was ruled as NOT punishment) A death sentence by crow bar is in fact punishment.
Ok, so I read the article and a couple of things. Number one it says kids can have the app too. With public misinformation I get it. But do we really want to arm children, say teenagers with this information. I can’t think this would do anything but make registered people targets. Second, does the app have the small print on all sheriff registry sites that it is a crime to use the information to harass or harm someone else? If not that sounds like a problem for a really dangerous situation.
You should follow the link on the article to LVPD’s twitter page. A lot of anti registry replies (although the last 50% are from one person). Also here is the journalist’s email if you’d like to make your voice heard:
audrey.conklin@fox.com
IA sheriff: recidivism low because registry.
https://qctimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sex-offender-compliance-checks-net-10-arrests/article_f61d18b8-81a0-5e97-bd1f-27dbec4cbc9f.html
Thank you, Jacob, for keeping us inform. By the way, I have moved from media chair to education chair.
I noticed the change in chairmanship and am glad that both Media and Education are now in good hands (though could always use more)!
Here is what gets me with all this type of notifications and signs is how does this effect children who might be being harmed? Does this encourage a child to report an abuse? Or does this make them fear people finding out because a sign could go up in front of their house? Or the Aunt’s house? or????? How does any of this encourage children to ask for help? To show that there is help without ridicule and public humiliation for them, their family etc…
It truly is astonishing that no one seems to be able to get through to the law, politicians, public that this helps with nothing but the bank account of the company who has the app. I love how the police claim it’s free. Demonizing those on the registry is very expensive to their lives and those who love them. Enough is enough.
Bea
Nothing is free. Someone, somewhere, somehow is pay for that. Going to school is free…………….but home owners pay for it with their taxes so it isn’t free.
To combat all of this I have an idea. Why not do away with door to door trick or treating and host parties for kids at all the schools, community centers etc. They could have candy, games, movies etc etc. There could be at least one officer or deputy at the events for safety and mostly eliminate the need for door to door begging.
Yeah, yeah I know, who is going to pay for all that.
Door to door isn’t banned in my area, but for years most of the schools in the county have been hosting Halloween for the kids. There’s a few families near me who take their kids out because they know I pass out really good candy. Full size candy bars, not that candy corn crap. Word spread over the years so now I get 15-20 kids at my door, even the older teens who live across the street from me, and yeah, they know my status and none of them even bat an eye at me. Probably because I go all out on decorations and my girlfriend and daughter and I all dress up and wait outside for the kids to come. I probably wouldn’t do it if I was singe with no kids, but for my daughter’s enjoyment, I try to make it as much fun as possible.
Disgusted
Do you give out the Mini Almond Joys? If so, I am coming over with a 5 gallon bucket LOL
Company XYZ (offender watch) takes data from a government agency (various PDs) and then sells that data back to the government agency for a profit.
Have any of you taken a look at the offender watch website and read how they are utilized by thousands and thousands of LE jurisdictions? Does offender watch make campaign contributions to any of these sheriffs, attorneys general, governors, etc?
More than likely. They also like to give them awards for implementation; sheriff’s often publicize their receiving “national awards.”
Many sheriffs also just farm out their registry to Offender Watch, which charges them by how many registrants they have, probably a little less than they receive from the state for registry maintenance.
Nor does OW do it particularly well. My own entry there is grossly out of date, but I doubt anyone there is very alarmed by that. Why should they be? It doesn’t accomplish anything anyway.