❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Police Minister regarding the number, monitoring, and address verification of convicted sex offenders in WA, with a detailed response provided by the WA Police Force outlining offender management and compliance measures.
AnsweredQoN 1256Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the statistics of convicted sex offenders, and I ask: (a) How many adult sex offenders are resident in Western Australia; (b) How many juvenile sex offenders are resident in Western Australia; (c) How many adult sex offenders are listed on the Community Protection Offender Register; (d) How many juvenile sex offenders are listed on the Community Protection Offender Register; (e) In total, for all localities, how many sex offenders are included in the Community Protection WA local search application; (f) How often are the addresses of known offenders updated on the local search application; (g) How often are sex offenders required to report their current address; (h) What routine checks are mandated to ensure all offenders are listed at their current address on the local search application; (i) Are all mandated checks up to date; and (j) Can the Minister guarantee all sex offenders are registered at their present address?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
22 October 2024
Responded by
Minister for Police
Response time
9 days
The Western Australia Police Force advise:
As at 1 September 2024:
a) 5,586.
b) 874.
c) 5,586 with 3,845 having current reporting obligations.
d) 874 with 358 having current reporting obligations.
e) 326.
f) On a weekly basis.
g) The Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (the CPOR Act) requires reportable offenders to report their personal details to police every 12 months, including their current address. The CPOR Act also requires reportable offenders to notify police of any change to their address within 7 days. In addition to this, the Commissioner of Police requires reportable offenders to report their personal details to police at intervals determined by their risk rating, with some reportable offenders reporting up to 12 times per year. On each occasion they report to police, their current address is confirmed.
h) There are no checks mandated by the CPOR Act. However, the WA Police Force implement various processes to monitor and manage reportable offenders to ensure compliance with the legislation. These checks include a daily review of intelligence holdings as well as the Serious Offender Management Squad conducting home visits to reportable offender’s residential addresses. The number of home visits vary due to factors primarily linked to risk, frequency of address change and level of compliance with the CPOR Act. All reportable offenders are subject to a home visit every 12 months as a minimum, with these checks being part of a dedicated, on-going, weekly operation to ensure checks are being completed. The purpose of the checks is to confirm the reportable offender is residing where they state they are living and to assess risk and compliance with the CPOR Act. Reportable offenders listed on the local search application are captured by this above initiative.
i) With the suite of intelligence products available to police and physical address checks being conducted, police can monitor with a reasonable degree of effectiveness if a reportable offender is living at their nominated address and detect if they move from that location. If a reportable offender is identified as not living at their reported address, they are subject to a priority investigation and subsequently located, arrested and charged for the non-compliance.
j) Reportable offenders are managed by the WA Police Force Serious Offender Management Squad. The squad’s primary responsibility is to ensure reportable offenders’ compliance with the CPOR Act and to deter, detect and disrupt behaviour to prioritise community safety. The squad’s work to ensure reportable offenders are registered at their present address is detailed in the answers to questions (h) and (i).
As at 1 September 2024:
a) 5,586.
b) 874.
c) 5,586 with 3,845 having current reporting obligations.
d) 874 with 358 having current reporting obligations.
e) 326.
f) On a weekly basis.
g) The Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (the CPOR Act) requires reportable offenders to report their personal details to police every 12 months, including their current address. The CPOR Act also requires reportable offenders to notify police of any change to their address within 7 days. In addition to this, the Commissioner of Police requires reportable offenders to report their personal details to police at intervals determined by their risk rating, with some reportable offenders reporting up to 12 times per year. On each occasion they report to police, their current address is confirmed.
h) There are no checks mandated by the CPOR Act. However, the WA Police Force implement various processes to monitor and manage reportable offenders to ensure compliance with the legislation. These checks include a daily review of intelligence holdings as well as the Serious Offender Management Squad conducting home visits to reportable offender’s residential addresses. The number of home visits vary due to factors primarily linked to risk, frequency of address change and level of compliance with the CPOR Act. All reportable offenders are subject to a home visit every 12 months as a minimum, with these checks being part of a dedicated, on-going, weekly operation to ensure checks are being completed. The purpose of the checks is to confirm the reportable offender is residing where they state they are living and to assess risk and compliance with the CPOR Act. Reportable offenders listed on the local search application are captured by this above initiative.
i) With the suite of intelligence products available to police and physical address checks being conducted, police can monitor with a reasonable degree of effectiveness if a reportable offender is living at their nominated address and detect if they move from that location. If a reportable offender is identified as not living at their reported address, they are subject to a priority investigation and subsequently located, arrested and charged for the non-compliance.
j) Reportable offenders are managed by the WA Police Force Serious Offender Management Squad. The squad’s primary responsibility is to ensure reportable offenders’ compliance with the CPOR Act and to deter, detect and disrupt behaviour to prioritise community safety. The squad’s work to ensure reportable offenders are registered at their present address is detailed in the answers to questions (h) and (i).
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