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Kokua Line
Question: Recently, there was an article regarding a Web site if one wants to know if there is a rapist in a neighborhood. Can you give that Web site again? Also, is there a national Web site? State Web site lists
convicted sex offendersAnswer: The state has two Web sites allowing the public to keep track of convicted sex offenders in Hawaii: http://www.state.hi.us and http://www.ehawaiigov.org
The second site was opened because the demand for information was so great, said Liane Moriyama, administrator for the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center. The center was mandated by a 1997 law to maintain a central registry of sex offenders registered in the state. Persons who have been convicted of certain sex crimes are required to register.
At last check, the sites were getting about 10,000 hits a day, Moriyama said.
Here's how it works: Once you get to the site, click on "sex offender registry." You can do a search, the most popular one being by zip code, Moriyama said.
Once you enter a zip code, you will get the name of the registered offender living in the area, photograph, street name (not specific address); make, model and license number of his/her vehicle; and the offense committed.
In the Aiea/Halawa area, for example, 110 offenders are listed. However, that is deceiving, Moriyama said, because many of them are incarcerated at Halawa Community Correctional Center.
At last count, 1,403 people were registered in the state, 12 of them female. The number is growing, Moriyama said.
There is a national sex offender registry, but it's not on the Internet. All 50 states have registries, with about half so far on the Web, Moriyama said.
"Hawaii has one of the strictest sex offender registration laws in the nation," Moriyama noted. Often, sex offenders from other states will write to ask about the Hawaii laws.
"It's like shopping where to live," Moriyama said.
But when they hear of Hawaii's law, "we don't hear from them anymore," she said.
Offenders moving to Hawaii must register with the state. "We get referrals from other states," Moriyama said. Hawaii requires registration for life, as well as a verification of registration information every 90 days, including address and vehicle.
The state Web site also has a page saying it doesn't know the whereabouts of certain people. The public is asked to provide information "and that has been real beneficial," Moriyama said.
Auwe
While driving home one day, I could either have been killed or badly hurt by some smart-aleck kid on his moped. Driving Diamond Head on King Street and about to turn right with the green light at Isenberg Street, it was only through God's grace that I barely saw the top of this kid's head. He was going in the same direction, tearing down the lane reserved for parked vehicles. He also was in between my "blind spot" and the parked cars. To make matters worse, he was hunkered down very low. Slamming on my brakes almost caused the fellow behind me, my neighbor, to rear-end me. This kid then had the nerve to sit up and flip me the "bird" as he sped off. My neighbor told me he saw the entire incident and felt powerless to do anything to avert what could have ended up as a possible fatality or severe injury. Parents, warn your kids about the responsible usage of any motor vehicle and if that kid, who was in front of the King Street Longs, is literate enough to read this, watch out! The next time, you won't be so lucky. -- John K.
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