| Issue #2- April 6, 2007 |
County Pays
Registered Sex Offenders Get a Summer Vacation in the Hamptons
By David Stoll
There was a time when spending time in the Hamptons was
reserved for a fairly exclusive group of people. Eventually, the old
money types had to welcome new money types, who then welcomed Hollywood
types and after that, music business types. Members of different racial
and ethnic groups came as well. And while complaining about change has
always been part of living in the Hamptons, no one really believes that
any particular group should be kept out of the Hamptons altogether.
Well, it turns out there is one unwelcome group of people and they have
already arrived. Homeless sex offenders are now being housed by Suffolk
County in Westhampton.
Thanks to a New York law based on the original “Meagan’s
Law” in New Jersey, people have a right to learn when convicted
sex offenders have moved into their neighborhoods — even though
the sex offenders may have completed their time in jail. The idea is
that sex offenders have been known to be repeat offenders, and neighbors
should know that they may need to take precautions for themselves and
their children if a sex offender moves in nearby.
Quite apart from how New York deals with sex offenders, the State and
its counties and towns devote a great deal of resources towards finding
housing for people who live on the street. Different programs seek to
find more permanent housing, provide job training and ensure that medical
attention is given (including for mental disorders). It is this policy,
which has bizarrely overlapped with policies concerning registration
of sex offenders, that is creating an uproar in the Hamptons.
It turns out — perhaps not surprisingly, although not many people
had thought about it — that some sex offenders in New York are
homeless and are entitled to the same assistance as other homeless people.
The County must provide housing for them, by law. Concerned that mixing
sex offenders with other homeless people (many of whom have their own
difficult problems) could be disastrous, Suffolk County officials determined
that homeless sex offenders should be housed separately. Moreover, it
was determined that their housing locations should move from time to
time.
For quite some time, these sex offenders were housed in motels. Starting
in February, however, the County decided to use a trailer for the housing,
and to locate the trailer in Westhampton. Up to six homeless sex offenders
can be housed in the trailer at one time. They must remain in the trailer
from 8:00 at night until 7:30 in the morning, and are transported by
the County to and from their places of employment. Two security guards
are on site to monitor them.
Although the precise location of the trailer is undisclosed, it is apparently
near a site that may be used for a new Town recreation center. Although
the location is supposed to change at some point, it is not clear when
that will happen or whether the new locations will be in or outside
of the Hamptons.
County Legislator Jay Schneiderman is not pleased, in large part because
he is unable to obtain information from anyone in the County concerning
when the trailer will leave the Hamptons. Although he understands the
need to provide housing for the sex offenders, he does not believe that
a single district within the County should bear the entire brunt of
the program. Perhaps making matters worse, Mr. Schneiderman learned
of the program from local residents, who themselves have had trouble
finding out what is going on. It is as though the County decided to
sneak sex offenders into the Hamptons during the dark of night.
There are about 826 registered sex offenders living in Suffolk County
today, although very few of them are homeless. When sex offenders are
registered, they are assigned a level, between Level 1 for the lowest
risk offenders and Level 3 for the highest risk offenders. The trailer
at issue can house Level 3 offenders, elevating an already combustible
issue.
A person seeking information about whether a registered sex offender
lives nearby may visit the State’s criminal justice website at
www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/index.htm.
Town and village police departments may also be able to provide information.
Certain aspects of the notification provisions, however, are under Court
review and are suspended for now, at least. As for the homeless sex
offender program at issue in Westhampton, Suffolk County’s Department
of Social Services may be reached at --- (631) 854-9935.
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