For downtown residents, the statistics are startling: according to Megan’s Law Web site, 301 registered sex offenders reside downtown. That’s more than 10 times the number of sex offenders per capita than other inner-city San Diego neighborhoods like City Heights, Barrio Logan and North Park, and one for every 89 residents. This led concerned residents to attend a Megan’s Law-required meeting on June 14 to voice their concerns to the San Diego police and state parole board.
The occasion was to announce the release of two new sex offenders in the East Village area, where they will be staying and beginning their assimilation into society.
Expectedly, residents were not thrilled at their new neighbors.
“Downtown cannot be the dumping ground for the region’s worst sex offenders,” said Leslie Wade, former executive director of the East Village Association. “That may have worked in the past, but it’s certainly not consistent with the goals of the Community Plan and our goals of creating a family-friendly downtown.”
She continued that it’s not safe for patrons of the Gaslamp Quarter “” especially all the women. Nor is it safe, she said, for people who go to ballgames at Petco Park or are tourists to the area.
“Here’s the bottom line: a woman who lives in downtown San Diego should be just as safe there as she would be in any other neighborhood in the city,” Wade said. “She has the right to be safe and for her children to be safe.”
Furthermore, of the very hardcore sex offenders, two-thirds of those live downtown, according to Wade.
“Not only does downtown get more than its fair share, but the ones it does get are the worst of the worst,” Wade said.
This phenomenon is yet another of downtown’s growing pains, as people move back into a city into new apartments, high-rises and townhomes which sit next to cheap hotels, warehouses and factories that have been there for a lot longer. Indeed, it’s these longtime less desirable features of the East Village that had the state parole board situating parolees here for years.
“[The East Village has] the cheapest housing, it’s available, and our goal is public safety,” Parole Administrator Rudy Fernandez said. “Most of the time, the cheapest housing is downtown. And because they need employment, it’s easier to have a job in that area.”
He said that after their release, they are assisted in housing and job placement until they get back on their feet. They screen where the sex offenders get employed and where they reside, especially child molesters. They are made sure not to live near schools or work with children, among other restrictions and conditions.
According to Fernandez, it just so happens that the East Village doesn’t have schools but has jobs and cheap housing.
“We’d love to be able to place and evenly distribute throughout San Diego County, but the restrictions and the housing are not there. Really, no one wants to take responsibility. It’s a really hot potato for everyone,” Fernandez said.
With what many would categorize as gentrification downtown, there’s more focus on the problem, despite the fact that sex offenders have been released downtown for the 23 years Fernandez has worked in parole and for the time before that where he worked in probation.
Asked for a solution to the problem, Fernandez echoes one attendee’s sentiments at the meeting: to come up with rational solutions to an emotional issue.
“I believe all the partners, Parole, Probation, City, County and community, should get together and do a rational plan on how to house these sex offenders. They’re always coming out. They’ve always been here. But sit down and do a rational plan,”
Among Fernandez’ examples is that each city, county, area or community designates a certain place to house sex offenders. He said sometimes it’s easier to monitor them when housing them in one specific location rather than being scattered throughout different areas.
He also pointed out that in Iowa, they discovered that if you put too much pressure and make too many restrictions on a sex offender, they go underground. They fail to report, authorities can’t find them and they go from one state to another.
“I would rather know where they’re at than they not reporting and no one monitoring their behavior,” said Fernandez.
Additionally, treatment consists of helping sex offenders control their impulses, to understand triggers and why they have those impulses. Additionally, they have a support network. With someone to talk with about their problems, they’re less likely to offend. Plus, many of the most violent offenders have GPS monitors as a tool for monitoring to see where they’ve been and where they are going.
How these offenders end up downtown is a matter of no-longer compatible circumstances where they once lived. Most parolees go back to where their families and friends are, where they are comfortable. The only times they can’t return are because of victim concerns or nearby schools, which the parole board monitors.
But as Detective Sgt. Mark Sullivan with the San Diego Police Department’s Sex Offender Unit, once these sex offenders from all over the county get placed in the city of San Diego, they’re stuck managing them.
And as Wade pointed out, the East Village is working on building parks, schools and the new St. Vincent de Paul affordable housing project, all of which will need consideration in the future placement of these offenders.
“No one neighborhood should have more than its fair share,” Wade said.
Fernandez realistically asserted that “this problem [will be here] 100 years from now. It’s here now, and it’s gonna continue.”
He has been appointed to the governor’s sex offender task force and will be working on developing a statewide strategy on best practices on how to manage sex offenders.
“I’m a father and a grandfather. I have the same concerns as [residents] do,” Fernandez said. “We work hard to provide public safety.”