how do you spell a waste of money???? Original Article Arizona moves to track down 957 missing sexual predators Sherry Anne Rubiano The Arizona Republic Jul. 6, 2005 12:00 AM The state unveiled a campaign Tuesday to begin tracking down nearly 1,000 sex offenders, many of whom are considered a potential danger to Arizona's children. Arizona has lost track of 957 sex offenders who moved without notifying authorities and are not included in an official registry, according to the state Department of Public Safety. This includes 126 Level 3 sex offenders, those considered most dangerous. Sex offenders are required by law to register so authorities can keep track of them and to let officials know when they move. The DPS is adding money and workers, hoping to cut down substantially on the number of missing sex offenders within six months. "To protect the public safety and to protect our children, DPS needs to be able to keep up," Gov. Janet Napolitano said in announcing the program, part of her Operation Safe Neighborhoods initiative. This measure is the latest in Arizona recently designed to crack down on sex offenders. The state Legislature passed a law earlier this year restricting the number of sex offenders on probation who can live in one apartment complex. Phoenix officials are developing an ordinance to prohibit offenders from living close to schools. The initiative comes at a time when groups throughout the country are pushing to keep better track of sex offenders, motivated by cases such as the abduction in January of an 11-year-old Florida boy by a sex offender who had moved without notifying authorities. There are roughly 14,000 convicted sex offenders in Arizona, and 1,000 are added to the registry each year, Napolitano said. The DPS has six full-time workers who track and verify sex offenders in the state. The department will hire four more within 120 days, said Roger Vanderpool, DPS director. Finding these individuals isn't easy. They usually aren't located unless someone turns them in or they cross paths again with police. The names of these sex offenders are flagged in state police computers so patrol officers know they are wanted. Napolitano said the department's specially trained SWAT team and fugitive unit will be more aggressive in its search for these individuals. She didn't specify exactly how they will try to track them down. Once authorities think they have found a missing sex offender, the department's staff members must correctly identify the person and make sure they do not mislabel an innocent person. This involves searches in databases, including driver's license registration and public assistance databases, among other tasks. Vanderpool said a lack of staff and the often exhaustive requirements of the searches caused the backlog. Sex offenders are required to notify the county sheriff within 72 hours of relocating. If they don't, they can be charged with a Class 4 felony. The department's online sex offender InfoCenter posts the names, physical descriptions and photographs of 278 sex offenders who have moved without notifying authorities. In addition to this initiative, a new law is putting restrictions on where sex offenders on probation can live. In May, Napolitano signed a law that restricts the number of sex offenders who live in a multifamily dwelling, such as an apartment complex, to 10 percent of the total units. On Friday, Phoenix leaders asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance that further limits where sex offenders can live. The proposal would prohibit any sex offender from living 2,000 feet from where children gather, such as churches, schools and bus stops. This proposal mirrors Iowa's 2002 law, which prohibits such offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day-care center. Iowa's law was challenged as unconstitutional, but it was upheld in a federal Appeals Court last week. The proposal is expected to go before the City Council in the fall.