BCSO’s new program tracks sex offenders in Benton County
Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008
BENTONVILLE - Some Benton County residents may soon get postcards informing them of a sex offender living in their vicinity.
The Benton County Sheriff's Office launched a computer system Wednesday that pulls the addresses of anyone living within a half-mile of a Level 3 or Level 4 sex offender. The information is placed on postcards and mailed to the required neighbors.
Capt. Mike Sydoriak, head of the BCSO Criminal Investigation Division, said volunteer deputies inform residents when a Level 3 or 4 sex offender moves into an area. "Deputies went door to door, and sometimes it took two or three weeks to inform people," Sydoriak said.
The postcards are not only a time-saving element for the Sheriff's Office, but act as a safety measure because the BCSO can now inform residents faster when a sex offender moves into a neighborhood, Sydoriak said.
He said a Washington County company offered the technology for $ 7, 500, but the county's Information Systems Department created the program for the Sheriff's Office.
On Wednesday, the BCSO sent 13 postcards to residents who live within a half-mile of William Henshall, a Level 3 sex offender from Siloam Springs.
Elizabeth Bowen, the GIS coordinator for the county's Information Systems Department, said the program creates a buffer zone around schools and daycares because registered sex offenders are not allowed to live within 2, 000 feet of schools or daycares. Deputies will immediately know when a sex offender is within that buffer zone when he or she registers at the Sheriff's Office, Bowen said.
Failure to register is a class C felony, which is punishable with a prison sentence ranging from three to 10 years.
The programs are not just for law-enforcement use.
Sidney Reynolds, Benton County's director of information systems, said the county plans to implement an added program to the BCSO's Web site that will allow residents to input their addresses to learn what Level 3 or Level 4 sex offenders live in the area.
Reynolds said the county has been working on developing the program for the last couple of years.
Bowen said the county will mail postcards every six months to residents living within the half-mile of Level 3 or Level 4 sex offenders.
There are 108 Level 1 to 4 sex offenders living in the unincorporated areas of Benton County.
Bowen estimates that 2, 000 postcards will have to be mailed twice a year.
Sheriff Keith Ferguson said Wednesday's announcement had no connection to his reelection campaign against former Sheriff Andy Lee and Rogers police officer Kelley Cradduck.
The election is Tuesday.
Ferguson said the program has been in the works for more than a year but was finally finished Monday and is now ready to be tested.
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