NEWBURGH – City Councilwoman Cindy Holmes is concerned about what she said is the “dumping” of parolees and sex offenders in Newburgh.
Councilwoman Karen Mejia would like local legislation to prevent dumping in the city.
For a city with a population of 30,000, the numbers are high, said police officer in charge Lt. Joseph Cortez.
“Currently we have 138 sex offenders in the City of Newburgh,” Cortez said. Ninety-five of our 138 sex offenders are from outside our jurisdiction. We have 43 level three sex offenders, the ones that are more likely to repeat; they are the worst of the worst. Twenty-six of those are from outside our jurisdiction. We have 30 sex offenders who are currently on parole, 26 of them are from out of our jurisdiction.”
Orange County Social Services Commissioner Darcie Miller said the state “mandates that Social Services house or contract with private entities to house the homeless when such assistance is needed.”
Newburgh Mayor Judy Kennedy said the housing situation poses a dilemma.
“They can come from anywhere in the county as long as there is a place to put them, but I also know that they are also send here without having housing,” Kennedy said. “They may have housing for three days and then they are on the street. So, we definitely have some broken process here.”
There is a sex offender registry, but there is no parolee registry, which city officials note drives the numbers that much higher.
