This is not going to be a pleasant experience so brace yourself. This is about finding out information that you really don’t want to know about your neighborhood, but trust me this is important and worth doing. Thanks to technology you are now able to perform a search for all registered sex offenders in your neighborhood and surrounding areas. Yes, I know that this is a disturbing topic but it’s something all parents must be aware of.
So, for those of you who can handle it, here is a powerful tool that will help you learn how safe your neighborhood is and could possibly ensure the safety of your family and their friends.
Family WatchDog is an excellent service that works like google maps where you enter your address and it generates a map showing the location of each and every sex offender in your area. It will list the total sex offenders that appear on the map as well as those that aren’t mappable for whatever reason. Here’s the map results for my area in Alpharetta, Georgia:
The red squares are where registered sex offenders against children live. Burgundy squares indicate where they work. Yellow squares indicate rapists and blue indicates Sexual Battery offenders. Clicking on any square launches a new page with a great deal of information of the sex offender including their name, aliases, address, map of their location, convictions, Description, and a photograph. It’s all starling information, especially the closer they are to your home.
If offenders do not appear on the map, the LIST tab is another option to view this information. This is what it will look like:
Clicking on the name will launch the same detailed web page with all the information registered with that offender.
The Offender addresses dropdown list gives the option to list the unmappable offenders for more details.
The Recent Address Changes reveals the offenders who’ve been on the move and changed addresses.
The Get Free Alerts will send you email notifications about any of the offenders that you flag.
The send map to a friend lets you share information with anyone you believe needs to know about a specific offender.
Summation:
I’m not doing this for sensationalism or to generate blog traffic. I promise you that I would give anything in the world if we didn’t have to deal with these types of things in life. I’m the father of three small children so my number one priority is protecting my family. I know that there are many other parents who feel the same way and that will appreciate having this service and the valuable information it provides.
I have to add that everyone in life deserves a second chance in life. I believe in our justice system, despite all its faults and problems, it is the best in the known world. While I believe that MOST of these offenders will commit sexual crimes again in their lifetime, I do not believe that ALL of them will do so. Please do not condemn everyone in this registry automatically. People make mistakes and these individuals have certainly made the biggest mistakes of all, but we should never just give up all hope on anyone without first giving them the chance for rehabilitation. Many of them will actually become contributing members to society. However, it makes sense to keep informed of where these individuals are located especially in relation to your neighborhood and schools.
