New website tracks sex offenders

The Vernon Hills Police Department recently joined a new sex offender registration and public notification website called OffenderWatch.

It is a national network of more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies, which includes more than half of the Illinois county sheriff’s offices and many police departments.

The new service is a user-friendly website that enables citizens to search for sex offenders and predators who may be close to their homes, places of work, schools, churches or day care centers.

The information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is updated in real time by the Vernon Hills Police Department as offender information changes are reported.

As part of this new, innovative service, users may enter any address of interest to them and see a map and listing of all offenders within a user-defined radius of that address (one-quarter mile, up to two miles).

Citizens can also register the address to be continuously monitored. If a change occurs, an email will be sent, alerting them if an offender or predator registered an address within their specified radius. Citizens may confidentially register as many addresses as they like at no cost to them.

“Citizens have a right to know who may be living near them and could potentially pose a threat to their families. The Vernon Hills Police Department has the most up-to-date information on all offenders registered in the state, and I am happy to be able to provide that information to them,” said Chief Mark Fleischhauer.

Also on the website are additional web-based resources designed to educate and inform the public on ways to keep their families safe.

The purpose of the program is to lessen the anxiety of citizens by proactively alerting them should an offender/predator move within proximity to them, and to provide the highest level of security and safety to all Vernon Hills citizens.

The program also enables the police department to verify that offender addresses do not violate any safety buffers that may be implemented around protected institutions in the jurisdiction, such as schools, day cares and parks.

Citizens can access the OffenderWatch registry from the Vernon Hills Police Department’s website, www.vhpd.com. There is a link on the right-hand side of the page.