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May 25, 2007
NY: State senator proposes registry for drug dealers
State senator proposes registry for drug dealers
By YANCEY ROY
ALBANY BUREAU
(Original publication: May 25, 2007)
ALBANY - First a sex-offender registry. Now one for drug dealers?
A Southern Tier senator said yesterday that he would introduce a bill to create a statewide roll call for convicted felony drug dealers. Similar to the one for sex offenders, convicts would have to registe with the state for up to 10 years, notifying the Department of Criminal Justice Services of any address changes, and the list would be available on the Internet.
"I think it would be one of those extra deterrents and I think it would clearly be effective," said Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira. "Drug dealers are not out there wanting to advertise their location. And it would make neighbors and others aware and very vigilant of their activities."
The Republican said that similar legislation has been proposed in Maine and New Mexico. Also, he noted that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency recently launched a "Meth Site Registry" that posts locations in each state where methamphetamine clandestine labs or dumpsites have been found.
Winner got the idea from Police Chief David Rouse of Bath, in Steuben County.
"Absent of a drug-dealer registry, drug dealers can conceal their identities and criminal pasts, moving undetected from one jurisdiction to another while continuing their illicit trade," Rouse said in a statement. "When encountered by law enforcement they provide bogus identification and their true identifies are not known until they are subsequently arrested and fingerprinted."
The bill does not yet have a sponsor in the Democrat-led Assembly. Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn, who heads the Codes Committee that weighs all criminal-justice legislation, said the proposal is laudable and he is willing to take a look at it but has some concerns.
"My initial reaction is that it may take away from the importance and efficacy of the sex-offender registry," he said.
The state has devoted a lot of resources to that registry because of the pernicious nature of sex crimes, he said.
"I'm just a little afraid of doing it because, why not all crimes? Why just drug crimes?" he asked.
Cara Matthews contributed to this report.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/NEWS05/705250363/1021
Posted by lois at May 25, 2007 10:57 PM