Craig Johnson

The New York State Senate unanimously passed legislation co-sponsored by Senator Craig M. Johnson (D-Nassau) that would enable concerned residents to receive instant email alerts every time a sex offender moves into a particular zip code.

“This is commonsense legislation that will be an asset to every parent ,” Senator Johnson said. “I urge the Assembly to pass this vitally important legislation and I implore to governor to sign this measure that will better protect our communities from dangerous sexual predators.”

Thanks to an existing statewide emergency communication system, the state Department of Homeland Security-managed NY Alert, it would be easy for New Yorkers to register for instant e-mail notifications. Currently, New Yorkers desiring up-to-date information on registered sex offenders in their communities must make daily searches of the Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).

E-mail updates would allow New Yorkers to keep tabs on a specific geographic area, such as where they live or where their children attend school, and would save them the time-consuming chore of making regular visits to the subdirectory website.

As of May 4th, there were 17,447 level 2-3 sex offenders in New York State's Sex Offender Registry, which classifies offenders according to their risk of re-offending: low-risk (Level 1), moderate risk (Level 2) and high-risk (Level 3). Nassau County has 221 Level 2 and Level 3 offenders.