Sex offender sweep deemed a success

LANSING. The Michigan State Police (MSP) announced today the arrest of 51 non-compliant sex offenders during Operation Verify, an initiative aimed at increasing compliance with Michigan’s sex offender registration law.  This was the state’s ninth annual coordinated sweep.

Over 90 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies participated in the statewide sweep, which ran from Oct. 16 – 30, 2012.  During the sweep period, officers conducted compliance checks at the registered residences of 1,742 offenders, resulting in 51 arrests and 116 warrant requests for violations of the Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act (MCL 28.723 – 28.732).

The Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act requires registered sex offenders to regularly report to their local law enforcement agency, sheriff’s office or nearest state police post to verify their address.  A tier classification is assigned to each registered sex offender based on the requirements in the Act.  Tier 1 offenders must verify their address annually, during the first 15 days of January.  Tier 2 offenders must verify their address semi-annually, during the first 15 days of January and July.  Tier 3 offenders must verify their address quarterly, during the first 15 days of January, April, July and October.  Failure to do so carries a penalty of up to two years of incarceration.  All registered sex offenders must also report a change of name, address, employment, campus enrollment, internet identifiers and vehicle within three business days of any change.  Failure to do so carries a penalty of four years of incarceration.

In addition to Operation Verify, the MSP participates in several local and regional sweeps each year.  The department also maintains a list of the Most Wanted Sex Offenders at www.michigan.gov/absconders.  As of Oct. 1, 2012, there were 40,155 offenders on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry, of which, 37,261 offenders were in compliance with registry requirements.