The Broward County Commission caved to sibling county peer pressure by increasing residency restrictions for Florida sex offenders to 2500 feet of a school, park, playground or school bus stop.
The old "well, everyone else is doing it" argument, i.e. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
Making matters worse, the commissioners--with the Julia Tuttle Causeway sitting practically in their backyard--"...reluctantly, enacted its own 2,500-foot rule but only for 90 days...", knowing full well the motion "...would essentially eliminate all feasible housing for registered sex offenders...." AND did so armed with the facts from experts that restricting residence does nothing to make kids safer.
State Sen. Dave Aronberg has a pretty good idea regarding 300 feet buffer zones, but still hugs the PC Plank of Safety by hanging on to a politically safe Magic Number of Feet.State Sen. Dave Aronberg, the Fort Myers Democrat, might have the answer. He has authored a tough, rational bill creating ''a single, consistent 1,500 foot residency restriction throughout Florida.'' It includes ''child protection zones,'' prohibiting sex offenders from loitering 300 feet from schools, parks, libraries, bus stops.
Aronberg's office said his proposal, ``backed by law enforcement, prosecutors and child safety advocates, ends the confusion caused by 129 different ordinances and will eliminate the homeless sex offender problem that endangers public safety.''
But here's a guy that gets it.
Juan Formoso, the president of Broadview Park, an unincorporated Broward neighborhood with about 6,000 residents, told the commission that the number of registered sex offenders living in his community has risen from 30 to 104 in three years.
''I believe [the 2,500-foot restriction] only gives people a false sense of security,'' Commissioner Kristin Jacobs said. ``But it exists. And it constricts where sex offenders can live. It has concentrated them in our unincorporated areas.
Well, Juan, don't fret too much, darlin'. If people like me--professional people with a loved one who bears this cross moves into your neighborhood...
...your property values are about to go up.
Read more about this ridiculous mess over at the Miami Herald.
