"I don't think it's inappropriate for me, when people are wondering, 'What are you going to do about this?' to sketch out ideas," he told the Associated Press. "This is not some rash or Johnny-come-lately position. Sharing what we can do about these events is a legitimate thing for me to do." -Governor Tim Pawlenty on his announcement regarding the Death Penalty If Governor Pawlenty is concerned about repeat offenders in general and specifically sexual offenders, then rather than calling for the death penalty it would be prudent to make changes that will actually impact the community. They could start with updating the resources and procedures at the Department of Corrections, stop using impacted neighborhoods as containment zones and make sure that the public has real awareness of the sexual offenders in their community. Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., the man suspected in the Dru Sjodin kidnapping, is still listed under the section of "Out of State Offenders" with the registered address of the Grand Forks County Corrections Center on the State of Minnesota's Department of Corrections Website (http://www.doc.state.mn.us/level3/OffenderDetail.asp?OID=108212). Rodriguez was arrested at his home in Crookston, MN. Definitely not out of the state, and definitely not the Grand Forks Correction Center. How many other offending predators are living on our blocks that neither we, nor the Department of Corrections are aware of? Why are sexual predators being "contained" in impacted neighborhoods? Based on the 56 Level III Sex Offenders located in Minneapolis (according to the Star Tribune, there are 115 in MN) listed on the DOC's website, only 21 of the 81 neighborhoods in Minneapolis, have offenders as residents. Of those, 30% (or 17) are in the 55411 zip code; 10 of those 17 are in the Jordan neighborhood with seven of them living on one street (6 in a two block stretch). Jordan has a population of around 9100, Minneapolis, approximately 336,000. So, a neighborhood that has about 3% of the population is host to 18% of the Level III offenders. When combined with the Phillips neighborhood on the Southside (approx. 19800 people with 12 sex offenders) you have 8% of the Minneapolis population hosting 40% of the Level III sex offenders. By the way, 50% of the households in the Jordan neighborhood have children. More disturbing is that these statistics underestimate the issue. The DOC's website is not up to date. There are 10 additional offenders living in the Jordan neighborhood, they can be found on the Fourth Ward CARE Task Force's website (http://4thwardcaretaskforce.org/index.cfm). The information on that web site is posted from MPD sex offender meetings held in community. These are only the REGISTERED Level IIIs (most likely to re-offend) and do not take into account the Level I & II's or the unranked offenders for which no community notification is required. Of the 14,317 registered offenders in the state of Minnesota, 10% or 1302 are in Minneapolis; 208 or 15% of the Minneapolis designees reside in 55411. Capital punishment is being presented as the solution. The real solution is to address these issues at the core policy level. Offender levels are assessed as inmates are released from prison, therefore after a person has "rehabilitated" (such as the case with Mr. Rodriguez) they are potentially assessed as a lower threat than they are. If an offender received probation or the work house, they don't go to prison, and therefore are never assigned a level. If an offender resides in a supported living facility, no community notification has to be given because it is assumed the community is aware based on the presence of the facility. If you have a property owner with little regard other than money, you may find two or three offenders living in a house together, watching the children play in the street. The solutions: Limits on the number of offenders concentrated in a neighborhood or other geographic area, especially impacted ones; more resources for the DOC to better track and present information to the community; level assessment at sentencing rather than release; and regulations regarding the proper procedures for absentee and mismanaging landlords who rent to multiple offenders and have little to no screening or follow-up. Address the issue of landlord renting to sex offenders vs. group home, for which a permit is required. Another problem is the possible existence of un-registered group homes.
Governor Pawlenty said that he raised the idea of the death penalty because people are fed up and want an aggressive response. I would suggest that he aggressively champion legislation that will bring about sustainable policy change such as what I've mentioned, instead of stop-gap measures that ultimately will not protect our children and community from the next predator we don't even know is among us! Jonathan Palmer Director Jordan Area Community Council
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