Homeless sex offenders who receive $90 daily stipends from Suffolk to find their own shelter should have to wear GPS devices so county officials can track their location, Suffolk Legis. Jack Eddington said Monday.

"If you're going to give them a chit to go wherever they want . . . I think our communities would be safer if we were tracking these people," Eddington said.

DATABASE: Click here to look up sex offenders in your town

The county's homeless sex offender population - now at 16 - has lived in temporary trailers in Riverhead and Westhampton. But state officials have ordered the county to close the shelters and the county has been unable to secure alternate housing.

Unlike GPS monitoring for sex offenders on probation or parole, the homeless sex offenders would not be watched 'round-the-clock, Eddington said. Rather, when each offender collects his $90 daily hotel voucher, a county official would check the GPS to verify the offender's location from the previous 24 hours.

Laura Ahearn, the executive director of Parents for Megan's Law and the Crime Victims Center, said homeless sex offenders often go untracked because they move around so much.

Registered sex offenders are required to register a new address within 10 days of moving, but the homeless often don't stay in the same place for 10 days, Ahern said.

"The GPS devices will verify and confirm that they are where they say they're going to be," Ahern said. She added that she was not aware of any other jurisdiction that tracked homeless sex offenders with a GPS.

Suffolk probation director John Desmond said the county cannot monitor sex offenders who have completed their probation and parole.

"When sex offenders are under court orders, they have to be in certain places at certain times," Desmond said. "We have probation officers who go and check on them. I have no authority to do any of that for anybody who isn't under a court order."

Legislators last week voted 15-3 to table a measure that would have allowed Social Services to augment its petty cash fund from $8,500 to $25,000.

The county planned on using $15,000 of that amount to give the 16 homeless sex offenders in its care now $90-per-night debit card vouchers to find their own hotels.

The Legislature's budget review office had not completed its report on how much the legislation would cost, director Gail Vizzini said Monday.

Presiding officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said he doubts the proposal's effectiveness since it lacks continuous monitoring.

"I don't know what it really tells you if you're not monitoring these guys in real time," he said. "It's quite a dilemma."

DATABASE: Click here to look up sex offenders in your town

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