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June 20, 2007
NY: Rome council backs drug dealer registry
Observer-Dispatch---Utica, NY
Rome council backs drug dealer registry
June 18, 2007
By LISA KAPPS
ROME -‹ The Rome Common Council took a stand last week in the battle against drugs.
"After decades of the war on drugs, it is painfully clear that we are losing," Rome Common Councilman Philip Vescio Jr. said at Wednesday night's meeting as he introduced a resolution in support of a state Senate bill sponsored by state Sen. George H. Winner Jr., R-C-Elmira.
The "drug dealer registration act" would require convicted drug dealers to be registered in a database, re-registering in the event that they move.
"It's modeled after the sex-offender registry," Vescio said.
The resolution supporting the Senate bill passed the Rome council unanimously.
The proposed database would include names, known aliases, birthdates, physical descriptions, photographs, fingerprints, lists of offenses and sentences, among other data.
While the bill has not been passed into law yet, its current form calls for a toll-free number the public can call to see if an individual is a drug dealer and an Internet posting of the database.
Drugs have two costs, Vescio said. They are costly monetarily as drug criminals fill the prison system but also sociologically as drugs destroy families and communities.
Vescio also cited the recent shooting of Utica Police Officer Thomas Lindsey.
"In light of the recent murders of some of our area's police officers, steps like this have, in my opinion, become necessary," he said.
http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/NEWS/706180336/10
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Posted by lois at June 20, 2007 09:47 PM