A new service now allows New Yorkers to know when a sex offender moves in or out of their area.

New Yorkers can sign up to receive the alert via e-mail, text message, fax or phone. The State Division of Criminal Justice partnered with the Emergency Management Office to offer the service.

Those who sign up will get the message when a Level 2 (an offender of moderate risk) or a Level 3 (an offender of high risk) moves in or out of the area they have registered for, which can be a county, zip code, or specific address.

The state sex offender registry currently has more than 30,000 offenders.

Monitoring Sex Offenders in Batavia

The city of Batavia is considering monitoring where registered sex offenders may or may not live. One Batavia City Council member is crusading to get the local legislation passed.

"They are scared. Their fear is overwhelming them,” Sixth Ward City Council Member Rose Mary Christian said.

Christian said she has been receiving calls and letters from her southside constituents about their concerns about a Level 3 sex offender living in their neighborhood.

"I wasn't even aware of it until after they received his picture informing people he was a Level 3 sex offender. There's a couple more okay?” Christian said.

According to the Batavia Police Department, there are 60 more.

"That’s unbelievable! Sixty-one in the city of Batavia,” Christian said.

For the past six years, the Batavia Police Department web site has contained a link to the Batavia Sex Offender Registry Information Center, which details where all registered sex offenders live and identifies their past convictions.

Christian said it is because of the alarming numbers that she is proposing new legislation to city council to restrict where Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders may live and travel within Batavia city limits.

"It would eliminate a known offender from going by schools, by parks, anything where children are gathered,” Christian said.

Christian said the city attorney will have to draw up the official language of the ordinance.

Sergeant Patrick Corona said he is on board with whatever the council decides.

“We’ll certainly do our best to enforce the law that they establish,” Sergeant Patrick Corona said.

Corona said he is cautious about the proposed ordinance, fearing it may prompt an offender to not report his/her whereabouts.

"A registered sex offender may, in some cases, be untruthful about where they are residing. If it's a matter of convenience or of practicality that they need to,” Corona said.

According to the state's Department of Criminal Justice Services, more than half of the state's 62 counties have passed their own residency restriction laws.

Christian said she rejects the claim that it is unconstitutional to tell a sex offender where to live or travel.

"No one seems to be concerned what happens to the children or the families after that. The people that they have offended live with this the rest of their lives. There is a lot of grief associated,” Christian said.

NYS DCJS
Batavia Registry Information Center