(SitNews) - The Alaska State Troopers (AST) and United States Marshals Service (USMS) have concluded a five-month program aimed at contacting and verifying the registration status of every registered sex offender in Alaska. Between December 2010 and April 2011, a team of Trooper Investigators and Deputy US Marshals, working in conjunction with multiple municipal police departments, the state probation and parole offices, and the Offices of the District Attorney; contacted or verified the statuses of 1910 registered sex offenders. Additionally, 750-800 convicted sex offenders were in jail during the sweeps and not included in the number to be contacted due to their incarceration status.

These efforts were part of Governor Sean Parnell’s initiative “Safe Homes, Strong Families”, to make communities safer by reducing the rates of sexual assault and domestic violence. Ensuring that convicted sex offenders were in compliance with the sex offender registration requirements is part of that plan. During this operation, team members traveled to 134 cities and villages throughout Alaska.

Of the 1910 registered sex offenders that needed to be contacted:

• 1651 (or 86.4%) were found to be in compliance.
• 137 (7.2%) were in jail for reasons unrelated to the offense requiring them to register.
• 81 offenders (4.2%) were out of compliance; these offenders were either arrested or had warrants issued for their arrest.
• 41 offenders (2.2%) have yet to be located.

Future efforts will continue in an attempt to contact those offenders currently on the list, as well as those who may be added to the registry in the future.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Joe Masters said of the sweeps, “The Alaska State Troopers formed a strong partnership with the United States Marshals Service, Sex Offender Investigations Branch. Our two agencies, in coordination with local law enforcement agencies, focused on contacting ALL offenders that are required to be registered and verify compliance. If they were not in compliance, they will be investigated and charged.”

Director of the Alaska State Troopers, Colonel Keith Mallard, added, “This five month effort emphasized the need for, and the benefit of, all law enforcement partners joining forces to address those issues that have historically plagued our state. Holding sex offenders accountable is imperative to keeping Alaskans safe.”

U.S. Marshal Rob Heun agreed, “Only through the collaborative efforts of the Alaska State Troopers and the United States Marshals Service can sexual offenders be appropriately and effectively accounted for and held accountable.”

Assistance was provided to the AST and USMS by Dillingham P.D., Fairbanks P.D., Homer P.D., Juneau P.D., Kenai P.D., Kodiak P.D., Kotzebue P.D., North Slope Borough P.D., Sand Point P.D., Soldotna P.D., Togiak P.D., University of Alaska-Fairbanks P.D., Valdez P.D., Wasilla P.D. Special recognition was given to the Anchorage Police Department and their Community Action Policing (CAP) Unit for their assistance in contacting hundreds of offenders in the Anchorage area.

Source of News: 

Alaska Department of Public Safety
www.dps.state.ak.us

SitNews ©2011
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska