Sask. site to tell public about high risk offenders
   

==Hopefully NB will be the next to follow.
 

REGINA (CP) - With a click of a computer mouse, Saskatchewan residents can now find out if a high risk offender is in their neighbourhood.

The provincial government launched a website Wednesday that gives the public access to information about high risk offenders, including their names, photographs and background information. "The police concern, and our concern of course, is with violent offenders who we believe are at high risk to reoffend," said Justice Minister Frank Quennell.

"The information is to assist (people) in protecting themselves, protecting members of their family," said Quennell.

The site compiles public notifications issued by police agencies across Saskatchewan.

Quennell said the key is that people can look for information about whether there is a high risk offender in their community at any time, as opposed to hearing it once on television or radio.

However, not all dangerous offenders make the Saskatchewan Justice Ministry's list.

Only the most serious offenders who are deemed to present a risk of significant harm are included, said Quennell.

The site lists steps people can take to ensure their safety, but it also comes with a warning about how the information is used.

Earlier this year, a Nova Scotia man killed two registered sex offenders in Maine, before taking his own life. Investigators believe the man used Maine's publicly-available registered sex offender website to hunt down his victims.

Saskatchewan's website repeatedly urges people "not to embark upon any form of vigilantism" or face prosecution.

"The concern about vigilantism, I think, is real and you have to be careful about disclosure," said Quennell.

He said it's important to only list violent offenders who police consider at risk to reoffend.

"If you put too much information about too many people on the website, then the truly dangerous, high risk people are going to get lost in the noise."

Alberta was the first province to create a high-risk offender website, in 2002, and Manitoba followed.

N.B. eyes public offender website
Database would keep track of whereabouts of dangerous offenders

November 24, 2006

FREDERICTON - If Justice Minister T.J. Burke has his way, New Brunswickers will be able to surf to a government website to find out if a high-risk offender is being released into their neighbourhood.

Similar high-risk offender notification websites are running in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and Burke said he's committed to bringing about a similar Internet site in New Brunswick. Burke said he'll be discussing the concept with Public Safety Minister John Foran where high-risk sex offenders who are released from jail and may be a risk to re-offend have their information posted on a website.

Burke said he hasn't seen the Saskatchewan model that was launched yesterday, but he supports a system used in Manitoba.

"That is something that I am committed to bringing forward," Burke said.

The Manitoba model prompts web viewers to indicate whether they reside in the province because only local residents are supposed to access the site. It also makes would-be observers agree not to take vigilante action against those on the site and that the information will be used only to "take reasonable measures to protect yourself and your family."

Once that is agreed to, anyone can click on the name of a recently released high-risk offender and that will lead them to a page that includes biographic information, including photos, a description of where they may locate, whether they took rehabilitation courses and if they are considered a danger to re-offend.

As long as appropriate measures are taken, the New Brunswick justice minister said these systems help protect families and communities.

"Take a look at exactly how the government of Manitoba's website identifies offenders who have refused to participate in rehabilitation treatment and are released into the communities," Burke said.

"Those individuals are marked as high-risk offenders. It is more of an advisory notice to women's groups, schools and people in the greater community without disclosing the address of where the offender lives because there is a privacy issue there. But personal safety of the community, personal safety of children and women trumps the privacy issue, which has been codified in law."

Rosella Melanson, executive director of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, said it's important that people take the necessary safety precautions at all times and not just rely on a website.

"We applaud measures that try to make people safer and give more tools but we don't want to lead people down a path either," Melanson said. "If people check the website and they are on the look out for these people, that is not all you should do."

In Saskatchewan's new model, once a police agency believes a person is a high-risk to re-offend and the public should be alerted to their presence, the website will be updated. A Saskatchewan government news release indicated that "only the most serious offenders, who are deemed to present a risk of significant harm are included on the website."