KTVU's Evan Sernoffsky reports. OAKLAND, Calif. - Due to the threat from the coronavirus, the Oakland Police Department has closed its registry unit where many of the city’s sex offenders are required to check in every month, officials said.
Now, the city of Oakland has no up-to-date addresses or other important information on hundreds of offenders – particularly transient sex offenders – raising concerns from victims' advocates and offenders who are trying to register alike. “We’ve put a whole population at risk and I find that very, very concerning,” said Nina Salarno-Besselman, an attorney with Crime Victims United, a public safety and victims’ advocacy group that fought to pass California’s Megan’s Law in the 1990s.