The RSONU is comprised of one assigned detective each from the Sparks Police Department, the Reno Police Department and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. The team of three detectives has one office support specialist provided by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and has the oversight of one supervisor provided by the Sparks Police Department.  The team works collaboratively to track and verify sex offenders’ compliance status that reside, work in or frequent either the City of Reno, the City of Sparks or within Washoe County itself.  The RSONU investigates sex offender registration compliance violations, effects arrests, or submits for an arrest warrant of those sex offenders who are verified as being non-compliant.  The team is also responsible for all community notifications of those offenders who are subject to public notification under Nevada Revised Statute.

The Sparks Police Department has been the recipient of previous JAG funding that has led to many accomplishments to the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness regarding the registration of sex offenders as well as the on-going offender management conducted by the RSONU.  Under 12JAG33, the purchase of a LiveScan Plus digital finger and palmprint scanner occurred.  This purchase significantly reduced the amount of time it took for Sparks Police Records personnel to complete the registration process of a sex offender.  The department also purchased interface software so that offender registration only need to be input once, as it automatically uploaded into Sparks Police Department’s Record Management System as well as OffenderWatch.  Personnel funding, also awarded through this grant, allowed overtime for records personnel as well as detectives in RSONU to conduct offender registration compliance and verification sweeps.  Through 16JAG25, RSONU continued offender registration compliance and verification sweeps with the awarded personnel funds.  The regular sweeps conducted by the RSONU generated “word-of-mouth” registration compliance among sex offenders and ensured that their information was current and up-to-date with local and state authorities.  All three detectives as well RSONU’s office support specialist attended the 2017 Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas this year; a focus of attended courses were on offender management and training regarding the OffenderWatch management system.  Also purchased was access to the OffenderWatch Booking Alert Portal which has helped to significantly reduce the amount of time spent looking for missing or non-compliant sex offenders; by sending email alerts whenever a registered sex offender in Washoe County is arrested or incarcerated in another jurisdiction. 

RSONU will use grant funds to send the three detectives assigned to the unit to training. The Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas is scheduled for August 13-August 16, 2018.  Internationally recognized, the Crimes Against Children Conference is the premier conference of its kind providing practical and interactive instruction to those fighting crimes against children and helping children. Several classes offered include sex offender registration program management, as well as classes specifically pertaining to offenders’ psychological motivations and resulting recidivism. 

The increasing numbers of sex offenders in the area have made the effective and efficient management of registered offenders imperative.  RSONU has also been an essential resource for patrol and investigative units in the area to identify persons of interest in sexually motivated crimes when the suspect is not known, by matching the suspect’s modus operandi to a known offender or in locating a registered offender when positively identified as a suspect in a crime. 

Training has become a vital component for the members of RSONU to have access to current best practices to run a successful offender management program as well as having a thorough understanding of sexual perpetrators to include what psychologically motivates them and the resulting recidivism that occurs.

Total conference and travel expenses for 3 RSONU detectives to attend the Crimes Against Children Conference = $6,033.  The breakdown of expenses is as follows:

Conference registration is $495 per person x 3 RSONU detectives = $1,485.

Total travel expenses to attend the conference per person = $1,516.  Travel expenses include: roundtrip airfare ($650) + hotel accommodations ($140 x 4 nights = $560) + Per diem ($64 x 4 days = $256) + roundtrip ground transportation ($50) = $1,516 x 3 RSONU detectives = $4,548.

The Council can elect to reject the Justice Assitance Grant grant award in the amount of $6,033 and direct the City manager to seek funding elsewhere.

I move to accept the Justice Assistance Grant in the amount of $6,033 from the State of Nevada Department of Public Safety.