Behind the badge: Police effectively manage offenders in the community
She said new Sex Offender Protection Orders, which allow tailor-made restrictions to be placed on offenders, had helped significantly.
“If you get someone who offends on a canal towpath, one way of managing them is through an order preventing them going to those locations,” she said.
“If they breach the order, they can be jailed for up to five years. It’s more effective and has made them more compliant.”
Following the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne in 2000 by convicted sex beast Roy Whiting, campaigners called for a public register of sex offenders similar to Megan’s Law, which gives US citizens the right to know identities of nearby paedophiles.
But those charged with public protection have argued such a register might not be as effective as the current arrangements.
Three years ago, a study in Chicago – which has a comparable population to the West Midlands – showed one in six of 4,000 sex offenders in the city could not be traced.
In the West Midlands, less than one per cent went missing. “I’d ask the public to have trust in the system,” said Det Insp McCamley.
“Under terms of their probation, these people are being actively managed in the community.
“If people were to know where they were it could lead to vigilante attacks. If offenders disappear, we can’t manage them and won’t know what they’re doing. It would make us less effective.”
