REFORM
THE
REGISTRY

DATA COLLECTION

THE PROBLEM

There is no know effort by the State of Wyoming to collect and analyze any data or statistics to help analyze the effectiveness of Wyoming’s Sex Offender Registry laws.

THE SOLUTION

Law enforcement led by the Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Wyoming Department of Corrections (WDOC) need to collaborate to collect data on sex offender crimes and reoffending to include the following minimum information:

1. Where did the offense take place?

2. What was the victim’s relationship to the offender?

3. Reoffense rates for sex and non-sexual crimes broken down by the offender’s risk level and original crime committed.

ANALYSIS

QUESTION: How do you develop or initiate a policy, law, or program and track its successes and failures without data?

ANSWER: You can’t

If Wyoming wants to track the personal information of sex offenders, perhaps it can collect and utilize some simple data on these offenders.

Right now, it doesn’t appear any of this information exists. If it does, there is no transparency and the data is not readily available to the public.

Even in constructing these recommendations, the lack of information available specific to Wyoming sex offenses was apparent and concerning.

  • What are Wyoming re-offense rates?
  • Has sex-offender treatment been a successful tool
  • What level of offenders re-offend at the highest rate?
  • Do probation supervision or GPS ankle monitors impact re-offense rates?
  • Where are these crimes being committed and what was their relations to the victim?

Policymakers need this kind of information to make appropriate decisions. Policy should be driven by data and information, not what makes us feel good.

The lack of data causing poor policy results in a broken system that does not work, gives the public a false sense of security and tramples the constitutional rights of individuals who should not be placed on a sex offender registry.

A long-term solution to seeking out and evaluating this data should be a clear focus of the State of Wyoming if it wants to enact effective and meaningful policies that protect the public against dangerous predators.

REFORM THE REGISTRY