Sex offenders under community supervision are an important public safety issue, with nearly 6,000 sex offenders under probation supervision in New York State. Although sex offenders constitute less than three percent of persons on probation, sex crimes can have devastating and long-term effects on victims and challenge our communities. Westchester County Probation has an outstanding record of supervising sex offenders as exemplified by our historical recidivism rate for sex offender probationers of one percent. In fact, the unit was named one of the National Center for Sex Offender Management’s ten original mentor sites, a prestigious designation that meant our department was an agency where others in the field could view “best practice” models.
The Sex Offender Unit provides specialized intensive pre-sentence investigations and intensive supervision of offenders sentenced on probation. The department has an on-site sex offender treatment program as well as polygraph examiners specially trained in sex offense specific issues. All of these partners come together to provide a best practices model for containment/management of sex offenders in the community. The unit is also charged with making sure that probationers are meeting the requirements of the NYS Sex Offender Registration Act as we report to the state board on compliance issues.