Community Protection Policies and Repeat Sexual Offenses in Florida

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of sexual offender management policies on sex crime repeat arrest rates in Florida. Aggregate data for the period 1990 to 2010 were provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The repeat offense rate was defined as the proportion of arrests each year that were committed by individuals with a previous conviction in the same crime category. The average yearly repeat offense rate for sex crimes was 6.5%, which was consistently and significantly lower than rates for other crimes: 8.3% for non-sex assaults, 15.1% for robbery, 29.8% for drug offenses, and 11.6% for DUI. The average annual sexual repeat arrest rate prior to and after the implementation of sexual offender registration laws in 1997 was 4.9% and 7.5%, respectively, indicating a statistically significant increase. The average annual repeat arrest rates for non-sex assaults, robberies, drug crimes, and DUIs also increased after 1997. No significant differences were found when comparing the average annual percent change for sexual re-arrest (+3.47%) with non-sexual assault (+3.93%), robbery (-.73%), drug offenses (+1.59%), and DUI (+1.14). Sex crime repeat arrests in Florida do not appear to show a decline attributable to sex offender management policies implemented since 1997.