BCSO to track sex offenders more closely

SANDPOINT — Bonner County's law officers will be keeping closer tabs on registered sex offenders living in the community, Sheriff Elaine Savage announced on Tuesday.

Patrol deputies will be assisting the Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit and Criminal Investigations Division in tracking the 77 registered sex offenders living in the county starting Aug. 1. The move is in line with an reorganized set of priorities for the Patrol Division.

The Special Investigations Unit is partially funded by a grant obtained in 2004 which requires it track and document sexual offenders. This requirement is also mandated by the state.

The Investigations Division has been tracking and verifying information pertaining to the registered sex offenders for the past several years.

Sheriff's officials emphasize the initiative is not a witch hunt and deputies will go about their duties in a professional and ethical manner. Citizens can also face criminal charges if they are found to be misusing information to harass registrants.

However, the Sheriff's Office is demanding nothing less than 100-percent compliance with sexual offender registry.

The Sheriff's Office will be conducting regular and random verifications to ensure offenders are abiding by the Sexual Offender Registration Notification and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1998.

Under Idaho law, convicted sexual offenders moving to the county must register within 10 days of their arrival. Registration involves fingerprinting and photographing, which must be renewed annually.

The Sheriff's Office is offering to collaborate with lawmakers and other law enforcement agencies and groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police Panhandle Lodge No. 15, the Bonner County Sheriff's Office Guild and the Idaho Police Officer's Association to strengthen sexual offender laws.

? Additional information about Idaho's sex offender registry can be found on a link on the Idaho State Police Web site (www.isp.state.id.us).