Overworked and short on help, sheriff's deputies say they know where most of the really dangerous offenders live. Deputies check on them whenever they can. Washington's highly touted laws governing sex offenders are failing in other ways. Communities sometimes aren't told of potentially dangerous offenders living in their neighborhoods, partly because notification policies vary widely around the state. And if a mailed notice does arrive to warn of a child rapist living nearby, it may be too vague to be helpful.
Police are increasingly reluctant to tell neighbors exactly where sex offenders live.
Instead, police may report the block an offender lives in, but not his exact street address. They fear sex offenders may become targets for vigilantes. If police have concerns, so does the public - particularly parents with small children. When police hold notification meetings about a sex offender who has just come to town, anxious neighbors often show up in droves wanting to know how to protect themselves. And when neighbors don't get the answers they want, well-meaning police often bear the brunt of the criticism.