WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Marshals Service has dramatically increased its number of deputies in Louisiana and Mississippi to help state and local authorities find hundreds of registered sex offenders who fled storm-battered areas.

 

The Marshals Service, which normally has roughly 32 deputies assigned to the region, has nearly 200 deputies there to help find missing sex offenders and to update local registries that were created to track thousands of offenders after their release from prison, said Marshals Cmdr. Geoff Shank.

 

There are an estimated 1,300 sex offenders registered in the New Orleans area and another 3,500 in Mississippi. The New Orleans police department and Mississippi's Department of Public Safety have identified 197 unaccounted-for sex offenders who could pose a particular threat to the public.

 

Those offenders are the focus of the Marshals Service, which has found about half of them ? some as far away as Connecticut, according to Shank and John Clark, a chief inspector with the Marshals Service. Marshals' deputies found that three missing offenders in Mississippi had been killed during the storm, Shank said.

 

New Orleans police Lt. David Benelli said the increasing urgency of the search reflects the threat that such offenders could pose, as well as authorities' desire to make sure that registries are updated so citizens can be aware of such risks.

 

"We have no idea where they all are," said Benelli, commander of the department's sex crimes unit. "Wherever they are, they have the potential of creating problems."

 

When offenders are found, authorities in those jurisdictions are notified. Registered offenders who move without notifying authorities normally could face charges, but it's unclear whether those who were part of the storm-related exodus will be charged for not reporting their new locations.

 

Shank said that in a few cases, investigators who were trying to determine whether registered offenders were staying in hurricane shelters have been stymied by shelter managers. He said the managers have cited privacy policies while rejecting requests for information about those in the shelters.

 

"We do not have a working relationship with the shelters," Shank said. "All of our inquiries ... have been turned back. We stopped asking completely. Had they cooperated, it would have made our job a lot simpler."

 

Shank said the Marshals Service had not received any reports of registered offenders committing crimes in shelters.

 

The American Red Cross, which has managed shelters throughout the Gulf Coast region, said it was unaware that any law enforcement requests for such help had been rejected. Red Cross spokeswoman Stephanie Millian said the organization's policy is to comply with law enforcement requests by allowing investigators to review rosters of evacuees.

 

Millian said, however, that she did not know how many times police have requested help, or how often shelter managers have provided information.

 

Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said the agency is prohibited from disclosing personal information about storm victims. But she said the agency cooperates with police when they make formal requests for such information.

 

Andrews said FEMA has received only one such request concerning shelters that were set up after Hurricane Katrina. That came from the Louisiana State Police, which was seeking information from the agency's database of 2.3 million people who have registered for any type of federal assistance.

 

It was unclear whether that request was part of the search for registered sex offenders.

 

Meanwhile, Shank and Clark said the Marshals Service is preparing for an extended deployment of extra deputies in the region. Clark said he expects the New Orleans police department to seek the Marshals Service's help in finding up to 100 more offenders.

 

"We've got no shortage of work here," Clark said.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-1...offenders_x.htm

Nice...

*enter Jaws music here*