Popular programs aimed at parents
Two popular iPhone applications that help users find sex offenders who live near the park they’re planning to visit for a family picnic may provide a sense of security, but they don’t necessarily keep users safe, officials said.
A Florida company introduced Thursday the second of two iPhone applications in recent months that map sex offender information already available through police-run Web sites.
Sex Offenders Search achieved instant popularity, climbing into the Top 10 list of downloads for the iPhone by Sunday, creator Roberto Franceschetti said. It costs $1.99, a dollar more than Offender Locator, which debuted in June and has also been in the Top 10 list. Both applications rely on the phone’s GPS to help users find nearby sex offenders. Users also can search by ZIP code to find offenders in areas they want to visit.
“The product is aimed toward parents,” Franceschetti said. “The application includes pictures of the offenders, so when parents take their kids to parks they identify potentially dangerous people.”
While that may be possible, the information is not being provided to users directly by law enforcement experts, said Leonard Sipes, spokesman for the District of Columbia’s parole agency, which works with about 33 percent of the sex offenders on the District’s list. The remainder, who are no longer on parole, are checked on by District police.
Those experts, Sipes said, can provide context, like how to prevent attacks, that the applications may not.
The information on the applications also may not be up to date, as it’s up to police to confirm that offenders live where they claim, he said.
“Until the unknowns are known, it’s better to stick with your local law enforcement agency,” Sipes said.
Trip Wakefield, president of ThinAir Wireless, the company that created Offender Locator, described the application as a convenient tool that does not replace available information.
“Nothing can replace parenting, of course,” Wakefield said. “But the more knowledge you have, the better decisions you will make.”
