Community Education

Over the last decade, professionals and citizens alike have become increasingly concerned about the presence of sex offenders in our communities. Legislatures have responded by passing laws requiring sex offenders to register with law enforcement officials; as well as laws that require notification when some groups of offenders are released into the community. In compliance with these notification laws, law enforcement officials and others have implemented procedures to inform citizens and community organizations when some sex offenders move to their neighborhoods. There has also been heightened attention to the methods for supervising and treating known sex offenders in the community. These measures have undoubtedly raised awareness among criminal justice professionals and the general public regarding this issue.

The following information is provided to assist professionals working with sex offenders, or responding to citizen concerns, by summarizing key information about sex offenders, their victims, and sex offender management practices.

Explore these links for further information:

• Questions and answers about sexual assault
• Myths and facts about sex offenders
• Characteristics of sexual assault
• Additional sexual assault statistics and links

Information about sex offender management:

• Why do we need to talk about managing sex offenders in communities?
• What do we mean by sex offender management?
• Overview of community notification practices in the United States

Information about promoting community safety:

• How can citizens help support the management of sex offenders in communities?
• How can citizens help increase community safety?
• Resources in the community to promote safety
• Additional resources

Summary of State Sex Offender Registries, 2001 (BJS)
This Bureau of Justice Statistics fact sheet summarizes information on the status of sex offender registries in the 50 States and the District of Columbia as they operated in February 2001. Information is presented on the organizational location of the State registries, number of offenders in the registries; their level of automation and capability to receive, store, and transmit fingerprints; whether DNA samples are included in registration procedures; and community notification procedures including use of the Internet to post information on registered offenders. This report is available on the BJS Web site.