The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office announced today that it has joined the nationwide OffenderWatch sex offender registry network, which enables collaboration on investigations and sharing of critical information involving registered sex offenders with more than 4,000 other local law enforcement agencies across the country. In addition, residents of Cleveland County can use the Cleveland County Sheriff’s website to search for sex offenders residing in their neighborhood and subscribe to receive e-mail alerts from the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.
OffenderWatch is the nation's leading sex offender registration solution, with law enforcement agencies in 39 states using the technology and over 15,000 users. Local and state agencies use the software to keep track of registered offenders across jurisdictions, collaborate on interagency operations, and automatically notify the community through the Cleveland County Sheriff's website and email alerts.
“Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to join the coast-to-coast OffenderWatch network in order to better share information, coordinate investigations, and collaborate on sex offenders,” said Sheriff Chris Amason. “When a registered offender moves from outside the county, deputies save countless hours researching and re-entering data because the offender record is seamlessly shared from one agency to the other. OffenderWatch builds a history of the data we have on file, and this facilitates registry staff, investigators and others working together. So, our deputies can be more proactive in offender management and keeping the community aware.”
There are more than 850,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. However, agencies often use disparate systems for managing sex offenders. OffenderWatch allows different law enforcement agencies to collaborate on a single offender record, improving accuracy and aiding in public safety.
“We believe data shared between law enforcement agencies leads to better investigations and safer cities and counties,” said Mike Cormaci, president, and co-founder of OffenderWatch.
“With the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office joining our network, OffenderWatch now has most of the nation's children covered by our reach—hopefully leading to fewer victims.”
OffenderWatch allows the sheriff’s office to better collaborate on investigations with the U.S. Marshals, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) teams and other investigators. Further, the citizens of Cleveland County now have at their disposal the OffenderWatch page for searching and real-time e-mail alerting of sex offender movement within their community.
Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office is also now offering the OffenderWatch App, free for download on both Android and iPhone smartphone devices. After downloading the app, citizens will be able to see registered sex offenders located near them or their family members. They will also receive free alerts when a registered sex offender moves into their neighborhood. The app also offers online safety information and tips for how to talk to children about sex offenders.
To learn more about OffenderWatch and sign up for email alerts on offenders, visit www.offenderwatch.com.