Laura Valdes of the Yolo Co CA persecutor's office doesn't seem to understand how GPS or crimes occur

As the old saying goes, the lights are on but nobody's home.

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/10/30/tracking-sex-offenders-gps-power-outages/

Could GPS-Tracked Sex Offenders Go Unmonitored During Power Shutoffs?

By Shirin Rajaee
October 30, 2019 at 7:10 am

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Hundreds of thousands of Californians remain in the dark as another round of planned power outages hit California. Parts of 29 counties and nearly 600,000 customers are affected. And now the shutoffs are raising new concerns that violent offenders could take advantage of the outages.

Victims rights groups say the fear is real. They want to make sure offenders using tracking devices are being monitored.

“They’re not only worrying about electricity in their home, and water from their well, but they have to worry about their perpetrator not being monitored,” said Laura Valdes, victims rights advocate with the Yolo County District Attorney’s office.

With no electricity, sex offenders are not able to charge their tracking devices, which need to be recharged daily.

“If their GPS monitors are not able to be re-charged, they have an excuse, a free ticket to re-harm their victim or someone else,” she said.

Sacramento County supervising probation officer Clifford Foster said that during critical incidents, officers increase their staff and home visits.

“We’ll have extra officers going out and checking up on our offenders,” said Foster. “When we notice someone’s device is not charging, we’ll have field officers bring batteries that are charged.”

He adds, “through the device, we can send messages to the client to call us.”

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and several county probation departments say there have not been any issues.

“GPS devices worn by parolees hold a charge for an extended period of time and agents are alerted and monitor low-battery status,” CDCR said in a statement.

State and county agencies are monitoring closely and say there is no increased safety risk.

“We are making every effort possible to keep in contact with all clients, no matter what conditions they have with their GPS,” said Foster.

Alabama Republican Representative Steve Hurst says he wants registered persons to DIE

If there was ever any doubt Steve Hurst passed Alabama's chemical castration bill as an act of vengeance, then keep this Dumbest Quote nominee in mind.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/06/chemical-castration-authorized-by-new-alabama-law-rarely-used-in-other-states.html

Hurst said he's open to improvements in the law, and would like to see a university involved in a future study on effectiveness. But for him, it comes down to simple justice.

"If they are going to mark those children for life, they need to be marked for life. ... My real feelings are that they need to die," Hurst said.

Why does the news media keep interviewing Wendy "I Never Met a False Rape Claim" Murphy?

As of this writing (pending the results of the 2018 Shiitake Awards), Wendy Murphy and Lauren Book are tied for most Shiitake Awards for an individual with three awards. You can even argue she's worse since Bimbo Book shares an award with her POS daddy. She's trying hard for a 4th (and maybe even a 5th) with this interview.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/02/20/i-team-boston-registered-sex-offenders-homeless/

I-Team: More Than A Quarter Of Boston’s Registered Sex Offenders Are Homeless
By Beth GermanoFebruary 20, 2019 at 6:00 pm

BOSTON (CBS) – The purpose of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry is to keep track of where dangerous sex offenders are, but what if they have no address? That’s the case with Lionel Braithwaite, who was arraigned Tuesday, accused of kidnapping two twelve-year-old sisters in Cambridge before they were able to break free. He’s listed on the Sex Offender Registry as “homeless” in Boston.

“These folks don’t have a place to go. They don’t have a home. They don’t have families in a lot of ways,” said Mayor Marty Walsh. “So unfortunately they end up in the system.”

The I-Team found more than a quarter of the names on the Sex Offender Registry in Boston are listed as homeless. Some say “not mappable”. Some list shelter addresses like the Pine Street Inn, and the Southampton Street Shelter. Out of a total of 674 Boston sex offenders, 176 are homeless.

“This is the type of criminal who wants to do anything but tell us where they are,” said victims’ advocate Wendy Murphy. “Yet we’re giving them the power to game the system.”

She is pushing for a solution. “If you say that you live in a place that isn’t on a map, or any one of these other tricks, then you should have to live on a bracelet, you should have a GPS device attached to your body.”

According to the Sex Offender Registry Board, Boston Police are trying to address the problem. They currently have a federal grant to help cover overtime costs so officers can check up on homeless sex offenders. The Registry Board says it “…works closely with local and state police to provide them with accurate and timely information that helps police officers determine whether a homeless offender is in violation of their requirement to register.”

Homeless sex offenders are required to check in with the state registry to verify their information every 30 days.

Captain Mike Merkel of the Lincoln Co MO Sheriff’s Dept thinks Registered Citizens go around teaching

This sweeps week fluff piece was already under consideration for dumbest article, but Captain Mike Merkel of the Lincoln Co MO Sheriff’s Dept's comment is the icing on this turd cake of a report.

https://fox2now.com/2019/01/21/lincoln-county-trying-to-keep-track-of-growing-number-of-sex-crime-cases/

Lincoln County trying to keep track of growing number of sex crime cases
POSTED 10:26 PM, JANUARY 21, 2019, BY CHRIS REGNIER

TROY, Mo. – It is the number one case for detectives at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department: sex crimes – especially those involving children.

Investigators say it’s a growing problem in Lincoln County and they’re concerned that the problem could get worse.

Captain Mike Merkel, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, says 70 to 75 percent of the department’s criminal investigations are sex crimes. And in 90 percent of those cases, Merkel says the victims are children.

“The majority of our kids that are victimized are victimized by a close family friend or a family member,” he said.

“I think this is a black eye in the dark underbelly of society that nobody wants to talk about, nobody wants to address. If you turn your head, it’s not there but it’s there. It’s absolutely there. It’s present in our community; it’s present in every community across the United States.”

Merkel says there are several reasons for the amount of child sex crime cases in Lincoln County: more reporting of suspected cases, more aggressive investigations, and access to technology for predators.

But there is another issue – the number of sex offenders living in Lincoln County.

Authorities say there are 180 registered sex offenders who call Lincoln County home. That’s one offender per 312 residents.

In fact, we’re told Lincoln County has more sex offenders per capita than at least six other counties in our area.

“It worries me professionally,” said Detective Sean Flynn, who helps to track the sex offenders in Lincoln County.

Flynn says more offenders are coming to the county because of restrictions on how close they can live to things like schools and daycares.

“It’s harder and harder for them because of what the laws are to find places to live in the more densely populated areas like St. Charles County and St. Louis County, so it’s pushing them out farther to more rural areas,” he said.

Flynn and Merkel say that increase could contribute to the sex crime case numbers.

“There is a percentage of them who have re-offended,” Flynn said. “There are some that are currently under investigation.”

“If you put registered sex offenders in an area and there’s already non-registered sex offenders there, well then they can work together and figure out how to victimize more children.” (Editor's Note: You have to watch the video embedded in the article to realize that it was Captain Merkel's voice making this statement, NOT Flynn. That is why he gets the nomination over Flynn)

And here is the troubling bottom line.

“As time goes on, there are more people being convicted of sex offenses, so we’re going to see an increase in the number of sex offenders every year,” Flynn said. “The number is not going to decrease.”

'Know who your kids are hanging out with, know where your kids are going, know the offenders that reside in your area.'

Flynn says investigators conduct surprise checks on Lincoln County sex offenders to make sure they are complying with the law. He and Merkel say sheriff's department detectives are doing all they can to keep residents safe.