Federal marshals’ involvement in registry compliance raids needs to STOP

By Sandy . . . When the Adam Walsh Act became law in July of 2006, it authorized the U.S. Marshals to “. . . assist state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in the location and apprehension of non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders; to investigate violations of the Act for federal prosecution; and to assist in the identification and location of sex offenders relocated as a result of a major disaster.”

With this mandate, the marshals have earned their keep by accompanying local law enforcement in implementing raids across the nation at the homes of persons listed on sexual offense registries.

The raids, generally called compliance checks, consist of multiple officers from federal, state, and local police targeting a county; they are sometimes announced in advance, with great fanfare, and often are followed up with press releases detailing their success.

A report for 2022 shows that in that year the marshals performed 300 such raids, checking on 46,661 registrants, and that 248 of them were found to be non-compliant in regard to one or more Megan’s Law requirements. My trusty calculator shows this to be 0.0053 percent. I don’t even know how to say that. I do know that it seems like a very small return on what has to be a significant financial outlay. And non-compliant does not equal dangerous nor reoffending, reducing even further the value. In fact, an important study showed, “[I]t is not apparent that sex offenders who fail to register are more sexually dangerous than compliant registrants.”

The 2022 report also shows that almost 10,000 of the 46K were arrested, and then defines arrested as: include sexual assault, failure to register/noncompliance with the national sex offender registry and other offenses. I have read enough articles on this subject to make a fairly accurate guess about the 10,000; somewhere between zero and three percent may be wanted for an actual sexual reoffense; one percent or less may be wanted for federal failure to register – in this report it was 0.0053 percent — and a few dozen probably had weapons, drugs, or disorderly conduct charges – the “other offenses,” criminal or exacerbated because the individuals were on parole or probation. Another one to two percent or so were noncompliant, meaning they got a digit wrong in a phone number or didn’t report a new online account or a change of address.

Of the 10,000 arrested, three percent or less would have been charged – unless this was in a state that criminalized noncompliance – and the rest released, some with a fine, after updating their registration information.

Three percent of ten thousand is 300, and that seems somewhat significant, but its significance diminishes rapidly when we realize the total was 46,661, not 10,000. Three hundred arrests out of 46,661 individuals is 0.0064 percent.

A point to ponder: if those arrested included those wanted for a sexual reoffense, why didn’t local law enforcement just go arrest them since they knew where they were? Why wait for this raid?

But even more significant than all the hoop-la and financial outlay and even the questions raised, these raids do nothing to improve public safety. This is a message the public never gets. The raids are often accompanied by pre- and post-raid announcements that justify the activity by telling the county’s residents how important this is for the safety and protection of their children.

They are often timed to correlate with holidays or with school beginning or ending and often given names designed to project the urgency and importance of the activities or, sometimes, the “occasion” that prompted the raid.

“Operation Egg Hunt” Anderson Co. Tennessee (72 checked; 68 compliant; 4 arrested for noncompliance).

“Operation Colorado Clean Up” Arapahoe Co. Colorado (3-month operation; total number of registrants checked not given; 38 either arrested, located, or had warrants cleared).

“Operation Ready or Not, Here We Come” Jackson Co. Tennessee (1-month operation; seven arrested, all for violations of registration or probation).

Not named; Cleveland Co. North Carolina (388 checked; 19 either hadn’t updated addresses or had a parole violation).

“Operation Spring Sweep” Jackson, Florida (108 checked; 101 in compliance; “The other seven sex offenders will require additional investigating . . .”).

These are typical of all the raids focused on verifying that registrants are living where they have said they are; the time and financial outlay expended in the activity are not justified in terms of public safety.

Nor can they be justified in terms of the fear and public embarrassment they cause to hundreds of thousands of former offenders who are assimilating into their communities as productive, law-abiding citizens. Descending in multiple vehicles, lights and sirens at full throttle and disgorging multiple officers suited better for combat duty in a war zone, they can strike terror into innocent family members including young children. Their intimidation tactics have been documented in a three-part series here.

These raids are costly in terms of financial outlay and in terms of law enforcement hours. They are not justified in terms of public safety. They create atmospheres of fear and intimidation in communities across the nation. Those who are known to have committed crimes or who are out if compliance can be arrested or dealt with by local law enforcement. If they are subject to federal charges, they can be turned over. These raids are unnecessary at every level.

They need to stop.

Written by Sandy Rozek

Sandy, a NARSOL board member, is communications director for NARSOL, editor-in-chief of the Digest, and a writer for the Digest and the NARSOL website. Additionally, she participates in updating and managing the website and assisting with a variety of organizational tasks.