The Englewood City Council on Monday approved a measure that would cut in half its 2,000-foot buffer between parks and schools and where newly arrived sex offenders can live. But city leaders decided to allow offenders who already live in the city to continue doing so regardless of the buffer.
The vote was 7-0.
The city has been wrestling with its strict sex-offender-residency rule for years, even finding itself up against as overly restrictive for a population that has served its time in the justice system. The 2,000-foot residency restriction from schools and parks essentially made the entire city off-limits to registered sex offenders.
Most of the since the beginning of the year has opposed Englewood’s distance requirements, and criticism was even leveled at the city’s proposal to cut its buffer in half. Opponents of the measure argue that distance restrictions don’t keep sex offenders from entering a community but simply act to push them underground.
Sixty-five registered sex offenders live in Englewood.
