The Sex Offenders Amongst Us
Last week’s Daily News article about the convicted sex offender found naked and self-mutilated in Fort Greene made us realize that we didn’t have a clue about how many registered sex offenders were living in our midst, so we headed over to the State Division of Criminal Justice Services website that makes such information public….
Last week’s Daily News article about the convicted sex offender found naked and self-mutilated in Fort Greene made us realize that we didn’t have a clue about how many registered sex offenders were living in our midst, so we headed over to the State Division of Criminal Justice Services website that makes such information public. We learned that our home zip code of 11238, which includes Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Prospect Heights and Crown Heights had 18 registered sex offenders—and that one of them, a child molester, lives just a block away from us. That’s nothing compared to the 90-odd men registered in Bed Stuy’s zip code of 11216 though. By comparison, Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo appear to be sex offender-free. Not surprisingly, many of the offenders are required to attend drug treatment as one of the terms of their parole. Luckily for them, Clinton Hill, Bed Stuy and Crown Heights also have more than their fair share of those too—unless a new clinic has popped up on Remsen or Pierrepont recently and we didn’t get the memo.
dibs – actually, I’d argue it would reinforce it. without invalidating this friend’s experience (and I’m sure I’ll get a rampant response to this one), I’d be interested to hear what actually formed the basis of her positive conclusion that he’d been following her. short of an admission on his part, i think that his presence on the list contributed at least partially to the conclusion. it resolves any ambiguities in the favor of fear-mongering, which is the unproductive form of awareness.
i am very happy that your friend is safe, but she should be wary of anyone following her, regardless of this list.
Re: 11201, none of those people actually live in Heights proper or Dumbo…as for the clinics there, thanks for pointing that out. We had no idea. Are they high-volume? How are relations with the rest of community?
There are a number of substance abuse treatment programs on Remsen and there’s even a rapid drug testing facility on Pierrepont. This isn’t all that surprising given that Criminal and Supreme Court, the Department of Probation and a number of re-entry programs are also all housed in the area.
amt230, apparently feral’s post of 11:01 would negate your argument.
I did this about three months ago and compared Jackson Heights, Bushwick, and the part of Bed Stuy that is 11233. Bed Stuy had the largest list by far.
I don’t know what to make of it. Maybe that rents are cheaper in Bed Stuy?
Also, there are totally sex offenders in Brooklyn Heights. Just put in 11201!
I just saw on this site that there was a sex offender living across the street from a friend. I sent her the link and it turns out he’d been following her. So, basically, that’s all I need to know about whether there should be a sex offender registry.
although I imagine I’ll be the minority, while I understand the knee-jerk reaction to the horrendous nature of sex-offender’s crimes, any potential benefit by this is outweighed by the invasion of privacy, “witch-hunting”, and other violations of the rights of accused. the list conjures up images of each of these individuals violating a small child against their will, and waiting to do it to yours, which is in no way productive. I would hope in the end that parents will still be thoughtful and aware parents, and won’t rely on a system that further shames criminals and ostrasizes them from society. It also is at odds with the intent of our legal/incarceration system as a means for rehabilitation.
I would like to find out among the new transplants into the
area who are on the sex offender’s list. Any idea how to map that information?