Police officer perspectives on the implementation of a sex offender community notification scheme

Abstract

Community notification statutes, popularly known as ‘Megan’s Law’, were passed in rapid succession throughout the United States following the enactment of landmark legislation in the state of Washington in 1990. Calls for the adoption of similar legislation in Australia gained momentum following the introduction of ‘limited disclosure’ schemes in the United Kingdom and, in 2012, one Australian state introduced a limited form of community notification. This study presents an analysis of in-depth interviews with specialist police officers ( N=21) who are responsible for coordinating the ongoing management, registration and monitoring of sex offenders who live in the community in this jurisdiction to understand their perspectives on the scheme’s implementation. Systematic thematic analysis revealed that the officers were particularly interested in understanding the impact that notification has on offenders, victims and the broader community, and the police agency. The practice-based wisdom distilled from these interviews is used to inform a discussion about the more widespread implementation of this type of public policy both in Australia and in other countries that may be giving this consideration.

Police Officers’ Perceptions of a Sex Offender Registration Scheme: Identifying and Responding to Risk

“…The role of resource allocation plays a pivotal role in effective policing (Nash, 2016), with a lack of resources being one of the most common complaints among police (Day, Carson, Newton, & Hobbs, 2014;Whitting, Day, & Powell, 2016). Given that the cost of implementing a sex offender register in the community is high (Powell et al, 2014b), a system that relies on compliance from offenders may overstrain an already challenged resource pool, bringing into question its effectiveness and cost-efficiency (Nash, 2016).…”

“…As explained by Nash (2012), 'despite the huge media and political attention that accompanies sexual offending (and any failures in the system), the role in practice appears to be more of a public reassurance exercise'. As such, the registration scheme is considered to be under-resourced and ill-equipped to manage sex offenders in the community (Powell et al, 2014b;Nash, 2016;Whitting et al, 2016), despite an ongoing perception that registries serve as a protective measure for members of the community by increasing public safety (Kernsmith, Craun, & Foster, 2009).…”

An Evaluation of the Impact of Australia's First Community Notification Scheme

“…The first presents some basic descriptive data and a demographic profile of those who have been subjected to notification. The remaining subsections are centred around four key concerns reported by Whitting et al (2016) about the impact of the introduction of the scheme on: the workload of the police; offenders' psychological well-being; vigilantism; and offenders' compliance with their reporting obligations.…”

“…A key concern reported by Whitting et al (2016) was that the introduction of the scheme would lead to offenders going underground. This concern does not appear to have come to fruition.…”

“…In one of the few analyses of this Australian initiative, Whitting, Day, and Powell (2016) conducted in-depth interviews with 21 specialist police officers employed in the squad responsible for managing the scheme shortly after it came into effect. Those interviewed voiced a wide range of concerns relating to the scheme's possible impact on the agency, offenders, victims and the broader community.…”