On August 26, 2021, the City of The Dalles Police Department partnered with the United States Marshal’s Service, the Oregon State Police and the Wasco County District Attorney’s office to check the compliance status of every registered sex offender in the City of The Dalles. By making in person compliance checks of offenders in the city, the operation sent a strong message to sex offenders to comply with their registration requirements or face consequences.
Chief Worthy said, “By operationalizing the data contained in the State Sex Offender Registration Data Base, we were able to use that data to positively impact community safety immediately prior to the start of the school year. I want to thank our partners at the USMS, Wasco County DA’s Office and the State Police for their willingness to join us in our efforts to keep The Dalles a safe community for everyone to enjoy.”
The compliance checks conducted in Operation Oregon Crosswalk included making “boots on the ground” checks of addresses that offenders have reported as their residences to confirm or deny the veracity of the registration. By doing this operation the risk of recidivism is lessened and the accuracy of the database is increased making it a more valuable tool for keeping our community safe.
Thirteen sworn officers worked throughout the mission to check the compliance of 128 sex offenders that were in scope for the operation. Of those, 6 were particular targets of interest due to their status as Level 3 offenders, also known as predatory sex offenders.
COVID19 protocols at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility were in effect during the time of the operation and no offenders were lodged for being out of strict compliance however 4 warnings were issued and six offenders registered as required after contact. Three offenders were confirmed to be deceased and two had been previously deported, four were in jail and 15 were registered in an outside state. Other out of compliance offenders will be the subject of continued investigation and follow up by law enforcement.