By Nicole Vella
"Would you feel safe walking around alone knowing that there are 40 convicted sex offenders living in the area you go to school in?"
Lisa Perelli:"No definitely not, thats just disturbing."
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Production Memo
By Nicole Vella
I got the idea to do this story after going online and discovering how many sex offenders were actually in the area. It made me wonder how the people in the community felt and if anything was being done. At first I wasn't sure who I should interview. I wanted to interview a Hempstead resident with children and get his/her perspective. Well as i continued my research I saw that certain Nassau County legislators passed laws restricting sex offenders from living a certain distance within schools parks and playgrounds. I also saw that laws were passed to enable the installation of software into the computer of a sex offender that allows any online activity to be monitored and if any inappropiate sites are visited, the police are notified. Well I wanted to speak with one of the legislators responsible for passing laws dealing with sex offenders and i sent out e-mails to 10 different legislators. I also sent an e-mail to the Hempstead civic association and and heard back from 2. David Mejias was the first to respond and Kevan Abrahams responded shortly after. It was hard to set up a good time because of both their busy schedules so i had to pretty much be ready to go when they were available. After i got those interviews I wanted an interview with a Hofstra student but it was harder than I thought. When I finally found a student who was willing to answer a few questions, he/she did not want to go on camera. I finally found a student who would go on camera and had 3 interviews and it was time to edit. I had a few problems because at first the sound did not transfer from the flipcam to my computer so I had to covert each file that i downloaded onto my computer. It was pretty though trying to fit everything in 2 minutes. I had to decide what to cut and what to keep, every second mattered. My advice for future students taking this class is to start everything early. Plan ahead, make sure you have a lot of potential sources and have a plan b and maybe even plan c because people are busy and might not get back to you or might not want to be on camera. Also even though you have a source willing to talk it might take a week to get a date arranged to meet with them so allow yourself to have time. Make sure there is always room for error, expect things to go wrong for example your movie might have a problem uploading to blip, or certain things might take longer than you expected, if you allow expect things to go wrong and they don't it's better than expecting it all to go well and not allowing time for any error. It's not as easy as it look, editing alone can take hours so be organized, don't procrastinate and work hard.
I got the idea to do this story after going online and discovering how many sex offenders were actually in the area. It made me wonder how the people in the community felt and if anything was being done. At first I wasn't sure who I should interview. I wanted to interview a Hempstead resident with children and get his/her perspective. Well as i continued my research I saw that certain Nassau County legislators passed laws restricting sex offenders from living a certain distance within schools parks and playgrounds. I also saw that laws were passed to enable the installation of software into the computer of a sex offender that allows any online activity to be monitored and if any inappropiate sites are visited, the police are notified. Well I wanted to speak with one of the legislators responsible for passing laws dealing with sex offenders and i sent out e-mails to 10 different legislators. I also sent an e-mail to the Hempstead civic association and and heard back from 2. David Mejias was the first to respond and Kevan Abrahams responded shortly after. It was hard to set up a good time because of both their busy schedules so i had to pretty much be ready to go when they were available. After i got those interviews I wanted an interview with a Hofstra student but it was harder than I thought. When I finally found a student who was willing to answer a few questions, he/she did not want to go on camera. I finally found a student who would go on camera and had 3 interviews and it was time to edit. I had a few problems because at first the sound did not transfer from the flipcam to my computer so I had to covert each file that i downloaded onto my computer. It was pretty though trying to fit everything in 2 minutes. I had to decide what to cut and what to keep, every second mattered. My advice for future students taking this class is to start everything early. Plan ahead, make sure you have a lot of potential sources and have a plan b and maybe even plan c because people are busy and might not get back to you or might not want to be on camera. Also even though you have a source willing to talk it might take a week to get a date arranged to meet with them so allow yourself to have time. Make sure there is always room for error, expect things to go wrong for example your movie might have a problem uploading to blip, or certain things might take longer than you expected, if you allow expect things to go wrong and they don't it's better than expecting it all to go well and not allowing time for any error. It's not as easy as it look, editing alone can take hours so be organized, don't procrastinate and work hard.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Interview With Shantira Rolle, Hofstra University Student
“Would you walk around alone knowing that there are 40 convicted sex offenders living in the area?”
Shantira Rolle:“Well recently I haven’t and I haven’t heard of anything bad happening but probably no.”
Shantira Rolle:“Well recently I haven’t and I haven’t heard of anything bad happening but probably no.”
Sex Offenders in Hempstead
Since the passing of Megan’s Law in 1996 sex offenders are required to register within the town they reside in Hempstead . According to one of the many sex offender registry sites, nationalwatchdog.com, there are 40 sex offenders living in the town of. Most sex offenders tend to live in high crime low-income areas and usually live within blocks of schools, parks and playgrounds. Since there is such a large number of offenders living in a condensed area and the likelihood of the sex offenders repeating the act increases each year after they are released, Nassau County Legislators have been passing laws to deal with the situation. Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams who is responsible for passing a law to restrict sex offenders from living near schools parks and playgrounds said “We truly felt that this law would possibly be taking away the opportunity for sex offenders to be living within an eyeshot of kids walking to and from schools.” Schools and parks aren’t the only ways that a sex offender can approach a potential victim, many offenders use the internet. Nassau County legislators have recently passed a law that allows the installation of software to be put in the computers of sex offenders in order to track their activity online. This is to make sure that they are not visiting any inappropriate sites. Nassau County David Mejias who is one of the sponsors of the bill said “We want to make sure that the same technology that they are using is being used against them.” In order to find out where sex offenders are located in your area go to familywatchdog.com and enter the town, state and zip code and a list of all registered sex offenders in that area will appear.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Interview with Nassau County Legislator David Mejias
By Nicole Vella
“ What made you sponsor the bill to track a sex offender’s online activity.”
David Mejias: “Predators right now are using technology to pray on our kids and other people quite frankly, so we want to make sure that the same technology that they use to prey on their victims were going to turn the tables and use it on them now. We want to make sure that they cant do it again and if you are on probation and are a sex offender you will have software in your computer where probation can monitor at any time when you’ve been online. We get e-mail alerts when they have been to a site that is inappropriate.”
“ Are there different restrictions for different levels of sex offenders?”
David Mejias: “The highest level sex offenders have the restriction, and those who are on probation.”
“Do you feel that sex offenders, once they served their time in prison have a right to live near schools?”
David Mejias: “Well the rate of recidivism for sex offenders is so high that we want to make sure that these sex offenders can’t be tempted to commit the same crimes again, so these residency restrictions have been upheld constitutionally in Iowa and Alabama and we tailored our bill so that it can survive any type of court case or constitutional screening. “
“ What made you sponsor the bill to track a sex offender’s online activity.”
David Mejias: “Predators right now are using technology to pray on our kids and other people quite frankly, so we want to make sure that the same technology that they use to prey on their victims were going to turn the tables and use it on them now. We want to make sure that they cant do it again and if you are on probation and are a sex offender you will have software in your computer where probation can monitor at any time when you’ve been online. We get e-mail alerts when they have been to a site that is inappropriate.”
“ Are there different restrictions for different levels of sex offenders?”
David Mejias: “The highest level sex offenders have the restriction, and those who are on probation.”
“Do you feel that sex offenders, once they served their time in prison have a right to live near schools?”
David Mejias: “Well the rate of recidivism for sex offenders is so high that we want to make sure that these sex offenders can’t be tempted to commit the same crimes again, so these residency restrictions have been upheld constitutionally in Iowa and Alabama and we tailored our bill so that it can survive any type of court case or constitutional screening. “
Interview with Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams
By Nicole Vella
“What prompted you to begin the legislation that prevents sex offenders from residing close to schools playgrounds and parks?”
Kevan Abrahams: “Well generally what prompted me to begin the legislation in regards to sex offenders is I found out that most of the sex offenders that do reside in the county reside in my legislative district as well as the neighboring district. There was 17 in my legislative district, alone and from that standpoint I felt the need to try to protect the public and the children that could be harmed by possible sexual offenses. So what I was able to do and the law that we were able to pass, we were able to pass a restriction where sex offenders could live. That law basically restricts sex offenders from living a thousand feet from schools and 500 feet from parks and playgrounds. We truly felt that this law would basically be taking away the opportunity for sec offenders to be within an eyeshot from kids that are walking to and from school, and to and from playgrounds and parks. So far we found that the law has been affective, however it is tough to enforce because sex offenders tend to be transient so they may be in one property on one day and next property another day, they move from property to property. So following them and tracking them has been a challenge but our police department has done an examplorary job in terms of tying to take care of that.”
“What prompted you to begin the legislation that prevents sex offenders from residing close to schools playgrounds and parks?”
Kevan Abrahams: “Well generally what prompted me to begin the legislation in regards to sex offenders is I found out that most of the sex offenders that do reside in the county reside in my legislative district as well as the neighboring district. There was 17 in my legislative district, alone and from that standpoint I felt the need to try to protect the public and the children that could be harmed by possible sexual offenses. So what I was able to do and the law that we were able to pass, we were able to pass a restriction where sex offenders could live. That law basically restricts sex offenders from living a thousand feet from schools and 500 feet from parks and playgrounds. We truly felt that this law would basically be taking away the opportunity for sec offenders to be within an eyeshot from kids that are walking to and from school, and to and from playgrounds and parks. So far we found that the law has been affective, however it is tough to enforce because sex offenders tend to be transient so they may be in one property on one day and next property another day, they move from property to property. So following them and tracking them has been a challenge but our police department has done an examplorary job in terms of tying to take care of that.”
The U.S Department of Justice gives statistics about the average age of a victims of a sexual offender.
Fox news writes article about a bill being introduced to create a national sex offender database.
The Wallstreet Journal addresses the issue of how likely it is that sex offenders repeat their crime once released from prison.
Assemblyman Adam Bradley introduces the new legislation passed to crack down on Sex Offenders.
Nassau County Legislator David Mejias passed legislation which allows the installation
of software in sex offenders computers to track their activity online to make sure they do not visit inappropriate sites.
Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams proposed a law that restricts
sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools, playgrounds and parks.
Criminal justice Services explains the different levels
of sex offenders and various safety programs to prevent children from being a victim of a sex offender.
Parents for Megan’s law is dedicated to prevent and treat sexual abuse of children. They provides hotlines and counseling for victims of sexual abuse.
City-date provides statistics
for the town of Hempstead including average household income, crime rates and sex offenders in the area.
When a convicted sex offender is released it is questionable if he/she will commit the act again especially since most of them tend to live near schools playgrounds and parks.
All information about sex offenders in the are you live in can be accessed by just typing in your town name and zip code.
Fox news writes article about a bill being introduced to create a national sex offender database.
The Wallstreet Journal addresses the issue of how likely it is that sex offenders repeat their crime once released from prison.
Assemblyman Adam Bradley introduces the new legislation passed to crack down on Sex Offenders.
Nassau County Legislator David Mejias passed legislation which allows the installation
of software in sex offenders computers to track their activity online to make sure they do not visit inappropriate sites.
Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams proposed a law that restricts
sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools, playgrounds and parks.
Criminal justice Services explains the different levels
of sex offenders and various safety programs to prevent children from being a victim of a sex offender.
Parents for Megan’s law is dedicated to prevent and treat sexual abuse of children. They provides hotlines and counseling for victims of sexual abuse.
City-date provides statistics
for the town of Hempstead including average household income, crime rates and sex offenders in the area.
When a convicted sex offender is released it is questionable if he/she will commit the act again especially since most of them tend to live near schools playgrounds and parks.
All information about sex offenders in the are you live in can be accessed by just typing in your town name and zip code.
The U.S Department of Justice gives statistics about the average age of a victims of a sexual offender.
Fox news writes article about a bill being introduced to create a national sex offender database.
The Wallstreet Journal addresses the issue of how likely it is that sex offenders repeat their crime once released from prison.
Assemblyman Adam Bradley introduces the new legislation passed to crack down on Sex Offenders.
Nassau County Legislator David Mejias passed legislation which allows the installation
of software in sex offenders computers to track their activity online to make sure they do not visit inappropriate sites.
Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams proposed a law that restricts
sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools, playgrounds and parks.
Criminal justice Services explains the different levels
of sex offenders and various safety programs to prevent children from being a victim of a sex offender.
City-date provides statistics
for the town of Hempstead including average household income, crime rates and sex offenders in the area.
When a convicted sex offender is released it is questionable if he/she will commit the act again especially since most of them tend to live near schools
playgrounds and parks.
All information about sex offenders in the are you live in can be accessed
by just typing in your town name and zip code.
Fox news writes article about a bill being introduced to create a national sex offender database.
The Wallstreet Journal addresses the issue of how likely it is that sex offenders repeat their crime once released from prison.
Assemblyman Adam Bradley introduces the new legislation passed to crack down on Sex Offenders.
Nassau County Legislator David Mejias passed legislation which allows the installation
of software in sex offenders computers to track their activity online to make sure they do not visit inappropriate sites.
Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams proposed a law that restricts
sex offenders from living within a certain distance of schools, playgrounds and parks.
Criminal justice Services explains the different levels
of sex offenders and various safety programs to prevent children from being a victim of a sex offender.
City-date provides statistics
for the town of Hempstead including average household income, crime rates and sex offenders in the area.
When a convicted sex offender is released it is questionable if he/she will commit the act again especially since most of them tend to live near schools
playgrounds and parks.
All information about sex offenders in the are you live in can be accessed
by just typing in your town name and zip code.
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