To Track A Predator – Find Sex Offenders from your I-phone
One of my favorite television shows is To Catch a Predator with Chris Hansen on Dateline NBC. After all these years, this show still catches men who are on the Internet trying to have sex with young girls. I am still amazed that pedophiles show up at these houses expecting to get lucky. Out pops Chris Hansen with his famous line, “why don’t you have a seat?” Then he proceeds to grill these men, until they walk out and get bum-rushed and booked by the cops. Well now technology can get you in on the action because you can track and predator from your computer or even your I-phone.
Megan’s Law went into effect in 1996, requiring states to make information on registered sex offenders available to the public. Technology has caught up to the databases and now allows you to find these offenders using websites like Family Watchdog (www.familywatchdog.us) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Sex Offender Public website (www.nsopw.gov). Both are free. However, now you can pay a few bucks and purchase an app for your I-phone called Offender Locator from ThinAir Wireless in Houston for $1.99. They also have a slimmed down version for free.
If you are the paranoid type, this app will only make it worse. The program actually maps out the location of all registered offenders. Each offender is represented as a dot on the map. Finding a lot of dots on the map does not necesisarily mean the area is a nest of perverts. The list has been growing because often people land on the list for such offenses as urinating in public, visiting a prostitute, or even streaking. Stupid pranks can land anyone on the list.
If you are looking for a new home, these tools may be a necessary resource or fodder for paranoia. So next time you are trolling a neighborhood you have deemed safe with your I-phone Offender Locator… AskRey.