Non-Registering Offender Arrested in Arkansas

=One benefit of being in theOffenderWatch Network is automatically receiving notifications when offenders move in or out of your jurisdiction. However, oftentimes agencies that are not using OffenderWatch do not know when offenders move into their jurisdiction—and thus sex offenders can fly “under-the-radar" for a period of time until communication catches up. This would have been the case in Bentonville, Arkansas, if not for OffenderWatch. A sex offender notified his previous registering agency in Illinois of his intent to move to Bentonville. However, since the Bentonville Police Department wasn’t using OffenderWatch, they did not receive an instant notification about the offender headed their way. The offender had moved to Bentonville and was there for several days, without being registered with the police departments is required by state statutes. The OffenderWatch team noticed the offender movement and contacted Bentonville PD to ensure they knew an offender had moved into the jurisdiction. From there, an investigation was initiated, OffenderWatch data was provided, a warrant was obtained, and the offender was arrested for failure to register and jailed. Learn how registering agencies join the OffenderWatch Network to receive timely notifications about offender movements ,ensure accountability and compliance across jurisdictions, share offender records, and collaborate on interagency investigations.