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The Alabama Department of Public Safety manages the state’s sex offender registry and includes all registered adult sex offenders. A simple search function and standard profiles offer pertinent information, but without a dedicated, interactive map and work and school addresses, Alabama falls short of the top ranked sites in the country.

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Information Provided:

The offender profiles on this registry include physical descriptions, alias names and residence addresses. Work and school addresses are omitted. Fields are allocated for specific crime information directed toward law enforcement. In addition, crime location is displayed and a personalized description of the crime is given using the offender’s name.

Search Functions:

Alabama offers a simple, one screen search function. Search by last name, city, zip code and/or county. Results come up as a list with address, name, race, gender and photo. From the list, choose to print a flier in PDF format or view the complete profile. From the profile, you may link to Mapquest and map the address.

Additional Site Features:

Alabama offers a printer friendly format for the profile pages with prominently placed, familiar icons. The mapping function links to Mapquest, much less useful than a dedicated interactive map. Dynamic safety tips appear each time you land on the home page like, “Be careful when using computer Internet or on-line services. Use caution in providing personal information. Being flooded with e-mail can be annoying; having a chat room participant show up at your door uninvited can be terrifying.”

Ease of Use:

Alabama’s registry is provides reliable, consistent information with a simple search function, useful results list, and well organized profiles. The search box remains on the results page to make subsequent searches easier. Totals for results pages and intuitive icons make navigation easy as well.

Contact Information:

Contact the Alabama Department of Public Safety through phone or email.

Summary:

The Community Information Center for Alabama offers a good resource for its residents. The site includes all adult registered sex offenders. With additional prevention information and a dedicated, interactive map, this site could be improved and made more useful.