When it comes to registered sex offenders in your city, area, or neighborhood, ignorance is not bliss. As a parent, you have a responsibility to take whatever legal steps are necessary to protect your children, and to that end, knowledge is power. However, while you may understand the importance of researching sex offenders in your area, you may not know where to start looking. The internet can be a helpful research tool in this regard, but some sites and web services are more helpful than others. Here are some places to start looking.
1. Reverse Address Lookup
A white pages reverse address search allows you to enter any residential address and find information about the property, including any sex offenders located in the vicinity. You can use this type of resource to search your own address and find out about the neighborhood where you currently live, but this is an even more powerful tool if you’re looking to buy a new home.
Not only will a reverse address lookup inform you about neighborhoods to avoid due to the presence of sex offenders, but it will also provide you valuable data about the property itself, which can aid you in your due diligence before buying.
2. State Sex Offender Registry Websites
All 50 U.S. states, as well as some territories and tribal governments, have websites that provide searchable databases of their sex offender registries. If you’d like to confine your search to a single jurisdiction, one of these websites may provide the focused information you need. You should be able to locate the sex offender registry website for any state by conducting a web search including the state’s name. Moreover, the FBI also maintains a list of the websites organized alphabetically by jurisdiction.
3. National Sex Offender Public Website
The National Sex Offender Public Website is maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice and provides the most comprehensive search capabilities of any web resource. All the data available in the sex offender databases for individual jurisdictions is combined on this website, which offers you the ability to search according to several different criteria, such as the county, zip code, or name. You can broaden the search to include the entire country or choose one or more specific jurisdictions.
The NSOPW also offers a mobile app that allows you to search for sex offenders within a particular radius of your current location, whether that be a home, school, grocery store, park, church, or anywhere your children may go. As of now, the app is available in over 30 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Be proactive in ensuring your children’s safety. The first step is to use the resources available to you to arm yourself with knowledge.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
