Public Crime Registries Rarely Work, So Why Do They Continue to Grow?

Are a Politicians tool to make his/her constituents think the Politician is making society safer. Feels good does not translate into a safer society. A voyeurs place to go when they have nothing else to do (see the bad guys). Evidence is lacking to show their effect is anything but a sounds good law.

Knowing where someone lives has no safety value esp. since crimes are rarely committed at home, and when they are it doesn't involve anyone outside of the place of residence. BTW: Why look to their residence when the perpetrator is rarely there?

A system of tracking? Thats a joke! Are you TRACKING folks you have in your personal address book or contacts? The difference is?

3-7-17 National:

What started as a system to track sex-offenders has turned into a labyrinthine way of keeping surveillance on former convicts.

Bruce Armstrong says he’s a changed man. After spending 25 years in jail for killing a man during a home invasion, Armstrong is looking for a second chance: “I’m not in the lifestyle I used to be in. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I’m just trying to build something up before it’s too late. I’m 55 years old and I don’t have social security, retirement, or a pension.”

While it’s difficult for most ex-felons to reintegrate into society, Armstrong’s road is particularly tough. That’s because he is required to enroll onto a registry that is, in theory, supposed to keep communities safe. But research shows that, in reality, those registries act as one more shackle around the hands of those trying to re-enter society — heightening risk factors that criminologists say only up the chances that an ex-offender will turn to criminal activity again.

J.J. Prescott, a University of Michigan law professor and a trained economist, says that unraveling registries present a difficult political problem because while the upsides are intuitive to voters, the drawbacks are far less straightforward. He explains the downsides through a behavioral economics lens.

“The deterrence of prison is reduced by the use of public registries, because they have the effect of destroying the value of being out of prison by turning people into pariahs,” Prescott says. “Prison as a threat only works if you have something to lose.”

For 10 years, while Armstrong is on Illinois’ Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry, which is available to the public online, he will face small indignities — having to show up once a year at the police station with 10 dollars for the privilege of checking in, having the cops show up at his house at any hour, embarrassing him in front of his neighbors, and having to notify the police if he plans to leave town for just a few days — as well as the larger consequences that stem from anyone being able to uncover his murder conviction with just a few keystrokes. This all wasn’t part of the deal when he was convicted in 1986. ..Continued.. by Emmanuel Felton