I have to admit, I saw this as a popular search at Google Trends, and that’s why I initially ended up at the site. After all, fracas is a Canadian, and so searching a registry of offenders in the United States didn’t seem to be something that would be necessary for me. Still… I have a curiosity about why people search for what they search for online. Often it’s because of a television story or news report, other times the explanation for a bizarre search term (that suddenly explodes onto the scene) evades everyone.
So off I went, to visit the site to determine if it’s something I really want to write about, or if like most popular searches… fracas will pass. Call me crazy, but I like to write about what interests me or provokes the desire to pin my poor fraccy doll (and not in that high school girl and boy thing), not just what will get hits.
It took a whole thirty three seconds to have me thoroughly creeped out.
I, wanting to see how the features worked, plugged in a random zip code to generate some results.
89170.
The map key shows me what I might get to see. Little colored squares will indicate offenders’ location based on if it was an offense against children, rape, sexual battery or some other offense.
Now, I know that I chose 89170 from a list of random Nevada based zip codes. I had to pick a State and I thought that as good as any. The results freaked me out and I don’t even live there. I guess I’ve been living my life knowing those offenders are out there, but not really thinking too much about it. I clicked on a red square (red is for offenses against children) and the pop-up (you will have to temporarily allow them to use the site) actually caused me to jump back.
It was an actual photo of an offender.
I wasn’t expecting that. I had expected an address; after all, that’s what the site offers… the opportunity to know if you have an offender living on your street, but I hadn’t expected a photo. After the initial shock went away, I began to realize how some could see this as a wonderful tool for parents. After all, you get to know where the offender lives, and even print the photo to show to your children so they know not to interact with this person, or… so that you can be alerted if you see this person trying to make contact with your children.
Perhaps that’s why the site has been featured on Oprah and Dr. Phil?
The site also offers a variety of other helpful services.
Now, what really captured my attention though, was the sheer number of little colored squares.
Really?
That many offenses in a given area? It made me wonder if this type of service might not actually cause more harm than good? Is there even a safe place to live? Are we just causing ourselves needless anxiety by knowing about everything, or is this information that we can really use to protect ourselves? Should we live frightened of everyone and everything because we see how many little colored squares there are… or should be live our lives ignorant of it all, but mindful of reasonable safety measures in our lives? It’s an overwhelming concept, to be sure! I’ve provide a screen capture of the sample zip code I ran. To enlarge it and see what I saw (upon running the sample) in its entirety, just click on it.
I suggest anyone reading this go visit the site and check it out for themselves. The services they offer for families are as follows:
• Locate offenders near you
Use Family Watchdog to search for registered offenders in your area. Simply put in the address you would like to search around. Family Watchdog will show you a map of your area that displaying the offenders near you.• Get alerts when offenders move nearby
Let Family Watchdog tell you when an offender moves in or out of your area! Our notification service provides you with peace of mind. We will notify you by email/text message as soon as we detect that a registered offender moves near you. It’s simple and fast. Get our free email newsletter and notification when an offender moves close to you or a loved ones home.• Get alerts when crimes occur nearby
Family Watchdog does not stop at informing you about the offenders in your area. In selected areas, we will keep you updated about the crimes around you as well. When available for your area, we will send you notifications of the crimes occurring near you.• Get alerts when the government issues a food advisory or product recall
Danger comes from many places. With the number of food and product recalls in the news lately, and the potential negative consequences that can occur if you continue to use a recalled product, we will alert you as soon as the recall or advisory is issued by the government.• Safety tips
We have assembled an extensive library of safety tips related to product, family, and child safety.
Some might say this is a violation of the privacy of the offenders. Others will argue it’s necessary and invaluable when it comes to protecting children (and everyone) from danger.
So… what do you think? Please post your opinion about these types of services. Would you use them? Do you think they should be available? Are the right or are they wrong? Have your say… and if you think the doll needs a few pins, tell me why.
As for me? I’m still creeped out by the sheer number of offenses in the sample I tried, and am going to have to try find out if a similar service is available in Canada.
[This is not a paid review. Fracas receives and will receive no compensation for providing this information. Should you feel inclined to say thanks for the information by donating fracas a nice warm cup of tea to calm my nerves after all of this... I won't complain. I thank you!]
I would not want to be a parent of small children in some of those areas. Here’s the horrifying thing. You can click on a “school” (box with an X in it) and it will tell you how many child offenders live nearby and how close. I found some that said 7+ child offenders within a quarter mile. Of an elementary school. I have no words.
I actually went back and tried some other random zip codes. In Nebraska I got the same kind of thing… enough little colored squares to horrify a person. I don’t think it’s limited to any particular area.
The whole thing is really unsettling. I’m not sure if I could sleep if I was able to search my own area and came up with a result like that.
And the photos…. by gum, some of the photos are so creepy, like… do these offenders always look that way or did they just make it special for the mug shot?
Criminy.
lol on the photos. Clicking the “convictions” tab gets me. Like this one… 288 and 288a are crimes against children, but he’s a “yellow” (not red) which means rape was committed. 3 convictions are listed. And this guy is out and living near a school…. why?
Conviction date not reported
207 KIDNAPPING/TO COMMIT 261, 286, 288, 288a, 289 Offender’s age at conviction not reported
————————————————————————–
Conviction date not reported
220 ASSAULT W/INTENT TO COMMIT RAPE, SODOMY, OR ORAL COPULATION
Offender’s age at conviction not reported
————————————————————————–
Conviction date not reported
261.2 PRIOR CODE-RAPE BY FORCE
Offender’s age at conviction not reported
I used to read over at perverted justice. Now that site will really make a person feel sick. They have volunteers who go online (IM) and pretend to be underage kids. They log in and then just sit and wait for a perv to approach them. They then save all the conversations and if the perv arranges a meeting with what he thinks is an underage child… they call the police and the perv is busted.
The conversations are all posted online along with the person’s photo (including any photos sent via IM to what the perv thinks is a kid) and the perv’s user ID/online handle.
It’s a truly eye-opening site that every parent should read at least once; they will never again think it’s ok to let their child have internet access in their bedroom, etc.
However… the conversations are sickening, and please… anyone reading this comment should know not to go there from work… and NOT to click on the ‘wankers’ link if a photo of some perv’s willy isn’t something they want to be confronted with.
Gak. All this is making me feel like I need a shower.
I still can’t believe our laws are not changed to protect our children. They are the world’s resources. All people have to be accountable for their actions. The consequences for sex offenders should be greater!
The estimate is that some 665,000 registered sex offenders live in this nation and that number is growing fast. The problem is that society’s view of a “sex offender” is a myth created by the media ,which often falsely reports news in this arena, confusing terms like “sex offender” with “sexual predator”, as one example. Most sex offenders in this nation are low risk, first time offenders but those do not make for enthralling news stories. Recidivism rates, also falsely reported by many in the media, range from 3-6% for sex offenders (you can see the US Dept of Justice statistics on our site along with several official state report data). Most sex offenses are committed by someone who is known to the victim, as well ( studies are provided on our site). Therefore, when you know these facts, the maps with the pretty little colored squares do not seem so ominous.
Check out our blog which is loaded with facts, legal documents and links to sources http://www.constitutionalfights.org
AussieBabe – I agree, consequences for sex offenders should be greater. I don’t get why people don’t get that?
constitutionalfights – I visited your site and while you claim it’s loaded with facts… I didn’t see all the citations and references to show what you post is in fact, fact.
“Most sex offenses are committed by someone who is known to the victim, as well ( studies are provided on our site). Therefore, when you know these facts, the maps with the pretty little colored squares do not seem so ominous.”
A neighbour is someone who might be considered ‘known’ to the victim and so your ‘logic’ escapes me. It is exactly the reason those little squares are so ominous. People tend to feel a false sense of security around their neighbours simply because they see them often and are ‘used to’ them when in fact, if we knew someone had a problem with inappropriate sexual content with children, we would we more leery about their having contact with our young children.
You make no sense unless one understands your goal is to protect the abusers instead of the abused.
Using your constitution to excuse people from their abuse of children or to minimize the effects of such abuse on those children for the rest of their lives?
Not cool.
Sources for all information is included in every post on our blog. You need to click on the link to see the sources. The point made about neighbors negates the effectiveness of notification and registration. If you know your neighbor and you know he or she is a sex offender, then the need for notification or registration is made moot. We stand for equal Constitutional rights of all Americans, not just any group. Do not forget, any one of you may one day get a call that someone YOU know just became one of those dirty sex offenders.
Sigh. Ok. first… I went back to the posts that were up at your blog the first time you visited here to see what I ‘missed’. I notice first up… that your clickable links are difficult to discern because you have them colored the same color as the large portions of text within your posts that you’ve colored red. Passing the mouse over the majority of the red text on your site results in nothing… so how do you expect people to know which are links and which aren’t? Seriously… do you think people are going to sit there scanning all the colored text with their mouse just in case they find a link? That’s just bad website design.
Next… what you’ve done is largely reprint articles that aren’t necessarily verification of ‘fact’ as you claim your site it so full of. Sometimes, articles are opinion. Were you writing for a grade, you’d fail. It’s fine when one is just writing for entertainment value, but as soon as you go to other sites claiming people should come read yours because yours has all the facts… you need to do a better job of making sure everything is properly cited. So simply linking to the article you’re copying isn’t an assurance that the article is in fact, fact.
Lastly… your point is lost on me. So if one day I get a call that someone I know just became one of those dirty sex offenders am I supposed to suddenly decide sexual offenses are ok because I know the person? That’s just stupid. Someone who commits an offense has taken the liberty of compromising someone else’s rights. Keep that in mind when you’re so busy defending theirs. Why is it ok for them to have compromised someone elses? If you actually stand for equal Constitutional rights of all Americans, not just any group… then why are you forgetting about ones who’ve had the offense committed upon them? You don’t seem to be worrying too much about that group.
Your inability to see this logic makes me wonder if you might not actually be someone with a sexual offense in your own past.