Monday, March 4, 2019

Councilman Vallone proposes bill to disclose sex offenders sent to homeless shelters.


 


QNS

 A northeast Queens lawmaker wants the state to pass legislation in a continuing effort to bring transparency to communities with incoming homeless shelters.
Councilman Paul Vallone announced that he would be drafting a resolution calling on the state to pass a law requiring the disclosure of sex offenders housed in homeless shelters.

According to Vallone’s office, registered sex offenders must complete a “long list” of reporting and registration requirements before the community is made aware of their presence. The requirements are even more stringent for “level 3” sex offenders who are considered “high risk” of committing another sex crime.

Current state social services law restricts a social services agency from divulging that a sex offender is being housed in a “transient” or temporary homeless shelter like the one proposed for College Point.

“If the city brings a homeless shelter with over 200 transient men to any community, then those residents must be able to know if there is registered sex offender at that location. The proposed site in College Point, a result of profit hunting and failed policies, continues to show why it is a clear threat to the safety of over 3,000 students and the quality of life of the community at large. Whether you’re placing a registered sex offender in our communities for one year, or even one day, then we have a right to know,” Vallone said.

The state Assembly and Senate passed legislation in 2007 that would have closed loopholes for sex offenders to retain confidentiality when living in temporary shelters, but it was vetoed by then-Governor Eliot Spitzer who cited “privacy and implementation concerns.”

“This is not a privacy issue; it is a safety issue and there is no reason that sex offenders should be living within close proximity to a school,” Vallone said. “The state must expand restrictions on sex offenders living within a few blocks of schools.”

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't there already a data base detailing where sex offenders live and aren't sex offenders required by that law to register there address? Is this more grandstanding by Queens pols? ENFORCE THE LAWS ON THE BOOKS BOZOS!!

Anonymous said...

Why now guys?? This is nothing new !!

JQ LLC said...

Yeah, it looks like grandstanding, considering the guys involved. But apparently, deBlasio and the HRA are making everything difficult for people to find out exactly who's going to placed in these shelters. Which goes along with their operation of dropping shelters in towns disregarding input from the community.

Anonymous said...

Only Level 2 and 3 sex offenders are publicly listed on the registry. Level 1 sex offender information is typically only distributed to local law enforcement. Bottom line, you won’t know a sex offender is living in a shelter until after they get there (they have 10 days to report change in address). And in some instances, you might not ever know (if they are a Level 1).

Anonymous said...

And Liu is thinking, "You're done here sucker. Take a look around. The Asians will take every office you are going to run for."

Anonymous said...

And Liu is thinking, "You're done here sucker. Take a look around. The Asians will take every office you are going to run for."

Anonymous said...

Grandstanding? Grandstanding? John Liu and Paul Vallone! C'mon, that just can't be!

Anonymous said...

no it's not grandstanding - it's facts. If the sex offender rents he has to register his address. Shelters do not ask for or share this information. I feel it is to protect the offender and avoid liability for their actions. These shelters in family communities is not the answer. Letting hundreds live together like this benefits no one. may as well go back to section 8.

Anonymous said...

Don't start it at 200 inmates of a homeless shelter. Even one sex offender is too many. There's a proposed shelter in Rockaway for 120 males between the ages of 18 & 45 years old. That would fly under the radar.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it in Vallone's district that all those "massage parlors" have popped up over the past 20 years? Where's he been?

Anonymous said...

Only sex offenders? Why aren't they worried about the muggers and the murderers too?

Anonymous said...

What about the proposed shelter in Rockaway on Beach 101 Street for mentally ill men between the ages of 18 & 45? It's supposedly for 120 males so this would fly under the radar.