Law Enforcement Perspectives on Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems - NIJ Publications and Multimedia Update

Through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, NIJ has made available the following final technical report (this report is the result of an NIJ-funded project but was not published by the U.S. Department of Justice):

Title: Law Enforcement Perspectives on Sex Offender Registration and Notification Preliminary Survey Results (pdf, 30 pages)
Authors: Andrew J. Harris, Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky, Jill S. Levenson
Abstract:

This survey, administered online in the spring of 2015, represents the second part of a two-phase national study to elicit law enforcement perspectives on the functions, utility, and operation of sex offender registration and notification systems in the United States.

The study’s first phase featured a series of semi-structured interviews conducted in 2014 with 105 law enforcement professionals in five states and two tribal jurisdictions. Items for this survey were developed based on themes, experiences, and perspectives emerging from those interviews.

The survey items presented to each respondent varied, with piping logic based on stated agency functions, respondent roles, and jurisdictional characteristics. Questions from the survey were divided into seven categories, including:

• General Registry Purposes and Effectiveness
• Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) Issues and Challenges
• Classification of Offenders on the Registry
• Sex Offender Non-Compliance
• Residence Restrictions
• Inter-Agency Coordination
• SORN Impacts and Policy Recommendations

The survey was completed by 1,485 respondents, with 59.7 percent representing local police departments and 39.6 percent representing county sheriff’s offices. A limited number of respondents represented other types of agencies, including state law enforcement agencies. Respondents were fairly evenly divided among senior agency command staff (34.9 percent), line-level commanders and supervisors (29.8 percent), and line-level staff (35.3 percent, consisting of 26.6 percent uniform and 8.7 percent civilian).

Approximately one-third of participants indicated that they currently spent 25 percent or more of their time on sex offender management duties, and a significant majority (more than 95 percent) indicated that they had performed one or more duties related to sex offender management, community notification, and sex crimes investigation during their careers.

Respondents represent every state, except Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

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