5-16-2011 Oklahoma:
It may not be as well-known as the state's Sex Offender Registry, but Oklahoma's Violent Crime Offender Registry has grown exponentially since it took effect nearly seven years ago.
At least 400 violent offenders are registered in the state and about 53 in Tulsa, authorities said.
The Department of Corrections posts the registry of violent offenders on its website. This week, Tulsa police decided to make a local list available on the Internet, even though it is not required by law, said Sgt. John Adams said. The local registry should be online soon.
"It is definitely growing. We are expecting it to double over the next year and for it to just to keep growing," Adams said. "They are starting to get out and register and every month we see more."
The law was passed in 2004 with the intent of creating registries that would be open for public inspection.
Anyone who is convicted or receives a deferred or suspended sentence for a violent crime is required to register with the Department of Corrections and the local law enforcement agency. The crimes specified in the law include murder, manslaughter, shooting with intent to kill, assault with intent to kill, assault, battery and bombing.
Violent offenders remain on the list for 10 years, but those who are classified as habitual violent offenders - those convicted of subsequent violent crimes - will stay on the list for life, according to the law.
Since the law took effect, 586 people have registered as violent offenders. About 400 offenders are considered active because the rest have moved to another state or died, DOC spokesman Jerry Massie said.
The Mary Rippy Violent Crime Offenders Registration Act is named for an 89-year-old Wewoka woman who was found strangled to death in 2003. Tommy Standerfer, a neighbor who had served time for first-degree manslaughter and felonious possession of a firearm, was convicted of first-degree murder.
Neither Rippy nor her daughters were aware of Standerfer's violent past.
Most of the offenders that Tulsa has registered were convicted of shooting with intent to kill or assault since the sentences for those crimes average about five to seven years and they have been released from prison since the law took effect, Adams said.
The registry can be a helpful tool for officers to keep track of violent offenders, Adams said. Armed robbers are not on the list - but probably should be, he said.
At its current size, the Violent Crime Offender Registry does not cause much more work for police. One reason may be because there are no residency restrictions for the violent offenders like there are for the sex offenders.
Both the DOC and the Tulsa police say that they do not get many requests from the public about the violent offender registries.
Most inquiries that the DOC gets are about the Sex Offender Registry, Massie said. At this point, it is a far larger list, with more than 6,000 sex offenders tracked by authorities. ..Source.. by NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Showing posts with label Violent Offenders Registry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Violent Offenders Registry. Show all posts
May 16, 2011
Oklahoma's violent offenders registry growing quickly
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