Can this be right? It so goes against conventional wisdom.
The (Nashville) Tennessean reports that a series of studies of Tennessee criminals shows that convicts who do time for sex crimes are less likely to return to prison than cons who do time for other crimes.
The story says that "results released last month showed 28 percent of
the sex offenders were recommitted to the prison system, compared with
52 percent of other felons." The study's findings, the article says, are similar to two previous Tennessee Bureau of Investigation studies conducted in 1997 and in the early 1990s.
That is not far from what Iowa Department of Human Rights officials testified to in 2000. After analyzing about 60 studies that followed sex offenders who had been released for four to five years,
researchers found that:
... an overall average recidivism rate of 13.4 percent for sex offenses, 12.2 percent for violent crimes and 36.6 percent for general recidivism. In the reviews, recidivism was defined in several ways, including reconviction, arrests, self-reports, and parole violations.
In other words, after looking at 60 studies, researchers concluded that sex offenders are half as likely to go back to lockup as other criminals. Now, it could be, experts say, that some sex victims don't report repeat offenders because they wonder if it would do any good. There are also suspicions that because sex offenders do so much more time than others, they are less likely to make repeat offenses.
Several studies have suggested that the re-offense rate of sex criminals is vastly underreported.
A Department of Justice-sponsored Web site says:
...[researchers] found that the number of subsequent sex offenses revealed through unofficial sources was 2.4 times higher than the number that was recorded in official reports. In addition, research using information generated through polygraph examinations on a sample of imprisoned sex offenders with fewer than two known victims (on average), found that these offenders actually had an average of 110 victims and 318 offenses. Another polygraph study found a sample of imprisoned sex offenders to have extensive criminal histories, committing sex crimes for an average of 16 years before being caught.
If all of this holds true nationally, what are the implications of the
nationwide insistence that sex offenders be so supervised, segregated
and monitored? Could you argue that sex-criminal tracking
is part of the reason why sex cons re-offend less?
Let's Hear it for the Hams
Saturday, Sept. 15, is Amateur Radio Awareness Day. Journalists really should be aware of what Amateur Radio operators, or
Hams, do during emergencies.
I asked Al's Morning Meeting reader Allen G Pitts, (radio call sign W1AGP) to help me with this idea. Allen is the Media & PR manager of
The National Association for Amateur Radio.
He wrote to me:
In the strange silence immediately after a disaster, when the noise finally stops, it is often ham radio operators who are first to have communications, provide damage assessment and share the status of their communities. Because Amateur Radio operators can either use a shared infrastructure (the ham equivalent of a cell phone tower) or just “go direct” and talk to each other without anything between them but air, Amateur Radio has capabilities beyond phones and Internet systems. There are no choke points which can overload or fail. In an ever-shortening news cycle, when you want to get correct information quickly, accurately and directly from the scene, Amateur Radio has repeatedly been the initial means by which early reports are shared.
Later, as other systems are repaired and come back up, Amateur Radio usually shifts and becomes the means by which victims notify families of their status. Hams call this “health and welfare traffic.” While other systems are often still overloaded with emergency response messages, hams serve the victims directly by passing messages around the country on behalf of victims. In addition, they provide the emergency communications for other responders. The Red Cross, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Salvation Army, National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service and many other organizations have formal relations with ARES to provide Amateur Radio communications in a crisis because they know it works.
Hams are the people behind the curtain that make the “heroes” look good.
He is right. In the days after Katrina, I listened to Hams online as they passed along vital information for the National Weather Service.
Allen says that during a disaster, media representatives sometimes use Amateur Radio as a source of information and news stories about conditions in the affected region. Just last week,
Hams played a role in relaying information about floods in Minnesota. Hams
were also very active in reporting damage from Hurricane Felix.
In times of emergency,
this is the page I go to to find Hams' broadcasting online.
Hams played a role in these emergencies, Allen says:
- Earthquake in Hawaii -- 2006
- Flooding in Northeastern States -- 2006
- Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita -- 2005
- Wildfires in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico -- 2005
- Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne -- 2004
- Earthquake in Central California -- 2003
- Northeast Blackout -- 2003
- Shuttle Columbia Recovery Effort -- 2003
- Wildfires in Colorado -- 2002
- Flooding in Kentucky -- 2002
- World Trade Center, Pentagon and Western Pennsylvania Terrorist Attacks -- 2001
- Tropical Storm Allison -- 2001
- Fires in Los Alamos, New Mexico -- 2000
- Flooding in Texas -- 1998
- Hurricane Georges -- 1998
- "500-Year Flood" in N.D. and Minn. -- 1997
- Western U.S. Floods -- 1997
- Oklahoma City Bombing -- 1995
Why are they called "Hams?" The word used to be a slam from commercial and government radio signal operators, but over time the meaning was lost.
Click here for background.
How Can Journalists Tap into Hams' 'Expertise and Connections? There are rules as Allen explains:
Many Amateur Radio operators ("hams") are willing to provide interviews with reporters concerning information and operations from the disaster site. In addition, reporters may wish to develop stories on Amateur Radio's role in disaster relief -- handling health and welfare traffic out of the site, for example. Most local emergency services groups or clubs will have public information officers who will help you in this.
However, under federal law, Amateur Radio
may not be used for active news gathering or program production purposes. For example, it would not be legal for a reporter to use Amateur Radio in a professional capacity to interview someone in another location. This is spelled out in Part 97.113(b), Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Amateur Radio operators are permitted to assist news media representatives in gathering information to be relayed to the public from areas where normal communication has been disrupted, particularly when the information involves the safety or life of individuals or the immediate protection of property and no other channels of communication are available.
The operator may ask questions of, or relay media questions to, Amateur Radio operators in the area. The responses may be electronically recorded by media representatives. However, Amateur Radio must not be used to assist the news media in gathering information when telephones or other commercial means of communication are available.
The news media may of course monitor any Amateur Radio transmissions, but recording and rebroadcast under certain conditions (in or from war zones, for example) may not be legal or prudent. Under no circumstances may Amateur Radio operators retransmit commercial radio and television broadcasts.
An Idea: Get Local
If you really wanted to connect with Hams, you might find space in your building for the Hams to meet and/or practice. How valuable would it be to have a base of operations near your newsroom in a time of emergency? TV and radio stations should think about whether it would make sense to provide space on their transmission towers for Ham antennas.
You can click here to find local ham radio clubs.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
I got my ham certification in high school - part...
