SUMMER VACATION ALERT: STATE LAWMAKER VOTES TO CUT ONONDAGA COUNTY GPS TRACKING PROGRAM FOR HIGH-RISK SEX OFFENDERS

Assemblyman Stirpe kills pilot program to monitor dangerous level 2 and 3 sex offenders; passes bill to seal records of drug felons enabling them to work in day care centers and schools

Albany, NY— As school breaks for the summer, parents should be aware that a new program using GPS to track dangerous sex offenders in Onondaga County was eliminated.

Assemblyman Al Stirpe (D-121st A.D.) voted to kill the $500,000 GPS monitoring pilot program in this year’s state budget (A.150-C). The entirely state-funded program would have helped to supervise high-risk level 2 and 3 sex offenders in Onondaga County.

According to the state Sex Offender Registry website there are currently 335 level 2 and 203 level 3 sex offenders in Onondaga County.

This comes on the heels of a loophole in the Rockefeller drug law (A.156-B) passed by Stirpe that now allows criminals convicted of crimes ranging from petit larceny to drug trafficking to get their records sealed. This means a day care provider, nursing home, school district or other employer would not have access to the criminal convictions of potential employees when doing a background check.

Meanwhile, Stirpe secured $150,000 in pork-barrel state spending to build a state-of-the-art five-bay boathouse outside his Assembly district.

“As summer begins, there couldn’t be a worse time for the state to turn a blind eye to the whereabouts of dangerous criminals,” said Kathleen Hennessey, Spokeswoman for the New York Republican Assembly Campaign Committee (RACC).

“Assemblyman Stirpe clearly has misplaced priorities when he’s more concerned with using taxpayer dollars on lavish boathouses than keeping children and families safe from sex predators and drug addicts,” concluded Hennessey.

Fact: In 2008, Onondaga County was approved to receive $500,000 in funding to create a supervision program using GPS to track high-risk sex offenders.

Fact: Onondaga County Probation Department spent $24,074.00 of the money to hire staff to implement the new program.

Fact: On March 31, 2009, Assemblyman Al Stirpe voted to eliminate funding for the Onondaga County GPS tracking program in the state budget (A.150-C).

Fact: In April 2009, the state informed Onondaga County that they could not spend the remaining $476,000 – effectively ending the program before it started.