Orem firm's Web map pinpoints sex offenders
Thursday, July 14, 2005
By Jeremy Twitchell
Deseret Morning News
OREM — Mark Olsen was surprised to learn that one of his neighbors is a registered sex offender.
Olsen didn't get the information about the man from the state's online registry of sex offenders — he got it from a new, privately operated Web site.
The site — www.mapsexoffenders.com — shows the addresses of registered sex offenders on an interactive map. It is designed and maintained by Orbizon, an Orem-based Web development company where Olsen is an account manager.
Olsen said the site, which went online for a beta test Wednesday, has already opened his eyes. "I looked all around Orem," he said, "and there's offenders all around our schools."
The site takes information from the Utah Department of Corrections' sex-offender registry and plugs it into up-to-date mapping software. Links to the state registry allow users to see pictures of the offenders and the crimes they committed.
Under the federal statute known as Megan's Law, all states are required to maintain a registry of sex offenders and notify the public when they are released from jail. Utah is one of 47 states that employs an online database with such information.
But only four states — California, Ohio, Washington and South Dakota — have online maps of sex offender residences.
Olsen said his company's new site is a simplified way to search through information on the state's Web site — www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/community/sexoffenders — where users can search by ZIP code to get a list of all the registered offenders in the area and their addresses.
"We're not the ones who created the information, we're just making it easier to use," Olsen said.
Jack Ford, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections, said he was impressed by Orbizon's site. "I pulled up my house and there was a red dot about a block away and another a couple blocks away," he said. "I had looked at my ZIP code before, but I had never coordinated it like that."
Ford said he was concerned when he pulled a name at random from his records and searched it, only to find that the new private Web site did not have a picture of the offender. However, he said it was most likely a minor technical error.
Ford did say he hopes people won't use the site for the wrong reasons.
"I don't want this to give people a false sense of security," he said. "Don't look at this site and say, 'I'm safe, I know where you all are.' "
Ford said nearly half of Utah's registered sex offenders did not commit their crimes against children.
Visitors to the state's Web site are greeted with a strong reminder that being listed on the registry does not mean the person will commit another crime and that using the information on the registry to harass sex offenders is a violation of Utah law.
The same provisions are listed under "disclaimer" on Orbizon's new site, and Ford said he hopes people will read them.
Ford said most sex offenders who complete their sentence and undergo treatment are successfully rehabilitated. Of the 400 sex offenders who came through his department from 1992 to May of 2004, only two came back on new charges of sexual misconduct.
"Even one or two is too many," Ford said. "But the real concern is the ones who haven't been caught yet."
Some advocates of Megan's Law are calling for a national database of sex offenders, but such a far-reaching site would be expensive.
Orbizon is trying to build that site, but to do so, Olsen said, it would have to be supported by advertising.
"This isn't our primary business," he said, "but the site does need to pay for itself."
Laura Ahearn is executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a New York-based foundation that monitors compliance with the law. She applauds the creative new way of getting the information out, but her organization opposes companies that do it on a for-profit basis because they are "making profits off the victimization of others."
"This is something that should be done in collaboration with government agencies and nonprofit organizations," she said.
Mapsexoffenders.com has maps for Utah and Delaware. Olsen said 10 to 15 states will be added in the next two weeks, and every state should be on the site within two months.
Ford said Utah has roughly 8,200 registered offenders.
By Jeremy Twitchell
Deseret Morning News
OREM — Mark Olsen was surprised to learn that one of his neighbors is a registered sex offender.
Olsen didn't get the information about the man from the state's online registry of sex offenders — he got it from a new, privately operated Web site.
The site — www.mapsexoffenders.com — shows the addresses of registered sex offenders on an interactive map. It is designed and maintained by Orbizon, an Orem-based Web development company where Olsen is an account manager.
Olsen said the site, which went online for a beta test Wednesday, has already opened his eyes. "I looked all around Orem," he said, "and there's offenders all around our schools."
The site takes information from the Utah Department of Corrections' sex-offender registry and plugs it into up-to-date mapping software. Links to the state registry allow users to see pictures of the offenders and the crimes they committed.
Under the federal statute known as Megan's Law, all states are required to maintain a registry of sex offenders and notify the public when they are released from jail. Utah is one of 47 states that employs an online database with such information.
But only four states — California, Ohio, Washington and South Dakota — have online maps of sex offender residences.
Olsen said his company's new site is a simplified way to search through information on the state's Web site — www.cr.ex.state.ut.us/community/sexoffenders — where users can search by ZIP code to get a list of all the registered offenders in the area and their addresses.
"We're not the ones who created the information, we're just making it easier to use," Olsen said.
Jack Ford, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections, said he was impressed by Orbizon's site. "I pulled up my house and there was a red dot about a block away and another a couple blocks away," he said. "I had looked at my ZIP code before, but I had never coordinated it like that."
Ford said he was concerned when he pulled a name at random from his records and searched it, only to find that the new private Web site did not have a picture of the offender. However, he said it was most likely a minor technical error.
Ford did say he hopes people won't use the site for the wrong reasons.
"I don't want this to give people a false sense of security," he said. "Don't look at this site and say, 'I'm safe, I know where you all are.' "
Ford said nearly half of Utah's registered sex offenders did not commit their crimes against children.
Visitors to the state's Web site are greeted with a strong reminder that being listed on the registry does not mean the person will commit another crime and that using the information on the registry to harass sex offenders is a violation of Utah law.
The same provisions are listed under "disclaimer" on Orbizon's new site, and Ford said he hopes people will read them.
Ford said most sex offenders who complete their sentence and undergo treatment are successfully rehabilitated. Of the 400 sex offenders who came through his department from 1992 to May of 2004, only two came back on new charges of sexual misconduct.
"Even one or two is too many," Ford said. "But the real concern is the ones who haven't been caught yet."
Some advocates of Megan's Law are calling for a national database of sex offenders, but such a far-reaching site would be expensive.
Orbizon is trying to build that site, but to do so, Olsen said, it would have to be supported by advertising.
"This isn't our primary business," he said, "but the site does need to pay for itself."
Laura Ahearn is executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a New York-based foundation that monitors compliance with the law. She applauds the creative new way of getting the information out, but her organization opposes companies that do it on a for-profit basis because they are "making profits off the victimization of others."
"This is something that should be done in collaboration with government agencies and nonprofit organizations," she said.
Mapsexoffenders.com has maps for Utah and Delaware. Olsen said 10 to 15 states will be added in the next two weeks, and every state should be on the site within two months.
Ford said Utah has roughly 8,200 registered offenders.
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