MASSENA – Massena Police Department is making it easier for residents to track nearby sex offenders.
Chief Timmy J. Currier said the department has launched a new sex offender registration and public notification website called OffenderWatch®.
Massena police will now be part of a nationwide network of over 5,000 law enforcement agencies, which includes over 40 New York agencies.
Currier says the service enables people to search for sex offenders, who may be in close proximity to their homes, places of work, schools, churches and daycare centers.
The information is available all day, everyday and is updated in real time by the Massena Police Department as offender information changes and is reported.
As part of this new, innovative service, users may enter any address of interest to them, and see a map and listing of all offenders within a user-defined radius of .25 miles out to 2 miles of that address.
Anyone can register an address to be continuously monitored by the chief, who will send to an email alerting him or her if an offender registers an address within their specified radius of their address.
Users may confidentially register as many addresses as they like, at no cost.
“Our citizens have a right to know who may be living near them and could potentially pose a threat to their families. We are utilizing the most up to date information on all sex offenders registered in the state and we are now able to provide this information to the public in a more timely manner,” says chief Currier.
Additional web based resources designed to educate and inform the public on ways to keep their families safe are also available on the site.
Currier says the program will reduce the anxiety of citizens by alerting them should an offender move within proximity to their homes, and to provide the highest level of security and safety to all Massena citizens.
The program also allows the chief to verify that offender addresses do not violate any safety buffers that may be implemented around protected institutions in the county, such as schools, day cares and parks, and helps law enforcement schedule compliance checks for verifying information provided by offenders.
Citizens can access the OffenderWatch® registry at the Massena Police department sex offender search page at: http://www.massenapd.com.