Portland Police Update Sex Offender List

The Portland Police Department has conducted an operation aimed at verifying the physical addresses of all 123 people registered as sex offenders and listing Portland as their home. The Department conducts this operation twice a year. A team of detectives and patrol officers goes to each address claimed by a registrant in an effort to confirm their residency.

While every neighborhood in the city has registrants, the vast majority of registered offenders live on the peninsula, with the highest concentration being west of High Street. The following results were gained through this verification process:
Of 123 registrants:
-82 were found to be living at their claimed address
-10 were not spoken to directly, but are believed to be in compliance
-10 are currently incarcerated in county, state, or federal prisons
-10 are registered as transients, which allows no verification
-11 have whereabouts unknown to the police
There are 21 offenders for whom an accounting cannot be made, due to the lack of an address or their having moved without notice.

In addition to address verification, eleven registrants are in violation of the law for failing to provide either a photograph or the associated fee or both. The Department will be seeking criminal charges against all registrants currently in violation of the registry law.

This operation raises two significant concerns for law enforcement in Portland, according to Deputy Police Chief William Ridge. First, nearly 10% of all registrants in Portland are not currently residing at their declared address. Second, that another 8.5% of registrants claim transient status which cannot be verified.

The Portland Police Department will continue vigorous efforts to locate missing registrants and prosecute those found to be in violation of the law, says Ridge. For more information on sex offender registration, please go to www.portland-police.com where all registered sex offenders in Portland are listed.



Thieves Take Antique Flagpoles

Two antique flagpoles were stolen from outside the rear of Portland Architectural Salvage, on 131 Preble Street. The first one disappeared between April 5 and 7, and the second one was taken between April 7 and 9. The poles were lying on the ground, but were chained. Each one is twenty feet long, and weighs 1,200 pounds. They are described as nineteenth-century bronze flagpoles and are worth approximately $5,000 apiece. It is thought that they were stolen to be cut up for the value of the scrap metal. -Marge Niblock